Mosquitoes that carry West Nile detected in city

The mosquito species that carries diseases has been spotted in Regina for the first time this year.

The culex species of mosquito can carry diseases like West Nile virus and western equine encephalitis, said Russell Eirich, the City of Regina’s manager of forestry, pest control and horticulture.

He said this type of mosquito has begun to appear inside the traps the city uses to track mosquito numbers.

“Is there West Nile in the city yet? No. The province has actually got monitors for that and they’re still saying it’s early in the season, but we are seeing the mosquitoes that spread it,” Eirich said.

“We’re at the very beginning of their life cycle right now in the summertime, so we’ve only caught a trace amount of (culex) mosquitoes right now.”

Overall, Eirich said the city is now seeing high mosquito populations, with an average of 77 mosquitoes per trap compared to the historical average for this time of year of 27 per trap. He attributed the higher numbers to the cycle of rain and heat seen throughout June.

But we’re still a far cry from the record high the city saw in 2005 of 235 mosquitoes per trap, and Eirich is positive the city ’s mosquito program is doing its job.

“If you actually compare our intown counts to our out-of-town counts (outside of the city’s program) ... those counts are actually 11 times what we’re seeing in the City of Regina, so it’s quite a significant difference,” he said. The out-of-town counts were at more than 800 per trap.

Historically, mosquitoes hit their highest numbers in July every year.

To fend off the insects, Eirich reminded residents that wearing long-sleeved, loose and light coloured clothing is an easy defence.

Loose clothing makes it harder for mosquitoes to reach your skin, and light colours make it more difficult for mosquitoes to spot you, he noted.