We Can’t Just Wipe Out Mosquitoes! first appeared on the Backyard Bug Patrol blog.
The Aedes aegypti mosquito has been branded responsible for the transmission of the Zika virus. These tiny pests who make their homes all across the United States are a ‘hardy bug’ that prove to be extremely challenging to get rid of. Here’s an article with some further information about this critter that is making itself so comfortable in our surroundings.
Behind the spread of the Zika virus is a tiny menace that just won’t go away. It’s called the Aedes aegypti (AYE’-dees uh-GYP’-tie), a species of mosquito that has played a villainous role in public health history and defeated attempts to wipe it out. The mosquito is behind the large outbreaks of Zika virus in Latin America and the Caribbean. On Friday, Florida said four Zika infections in the Miami area are likely the first caused by mosquito bites in the continental U.S. All previous U.S. cases have been linked to outbreak countries.
So just why are these disease spreading mosquitoes so hard to get rid of? What would happen if we got rid of all of them?
With so many species that are not a threat to human health, it’s not right to just try and completely wipe them out. The answer is to protect ourselves from the ones that CAN cause us harm by making sure we use repellent, update our mosquito control and share the knowledge to create awareness.
Mosquitoes have apparently begun spreading the Zika virus on the U.S. mainland for the first time, health officials said Friday, a long-feared turn in the epidemic that is sweeping Latin America and the Caribbean. Four recently infected people in the Miami area — one woman and three men — are believed to have contracted the virus locally through mosquito bites,
Zika virus firmly ‘landed’ in the United States, it’s time to raise your alarm bells and let everyone know what they can do to protect themselves. Take action today, don’t leave it too late. These bugs will bite and for many of us, those bites will pack a pretty hard punch.