“It’s prime time for West Nile and La Crosse encephalitis,” according to Dave Geske.

Take it from Geske, La Crosse County Health Department’s mosquito control officer, because he has been studying the bugs here for 29 years.
Geske sees more La Crosse encephalitis cases during the last two weeks of August and the first two or three weeks of September than other time of the summer.

“It’s a population peak for these mosquitoes, and they’re looking for a blood meal, and we are the targets,” he said.

Geske put together his top 10 tips to reduce your risk of contracting West Nile and La Crosse encephalitis.

“If people followed this list, then we could definitely prevent many cases, but your neighbors and others have to do these things, too,” Geske said.

1. Get rid of tires — Don’t keep them outside to collect water. Tires are better breeding places than natural habitat. They are mosquito incubators. Instead, recycle old tires.

2. Make sure no manmade container — buckets, flower pots, etc. — can collect water. Mosquitoes love to breed in a container with water.

3. Use mosquito repellent with DEET, Picaridin, oil of lemon eucalyptus or Permethrin, especially during prime biting times for mosquitoes — late afternoon and early evening for triseriatus mosquitoes, which carry encephalitis, and dusk and dawn for culex mosquitoes, which carry the West Nile virus. Repellents disrupt the ability of the mosquito to know you are a good host. Follow the label carefully.

4. Wear light-colored clothing — long sleeve shirts, long pants and socks.

5. Mosquito-proof your home. Keep mosquitoes outside by fixing or installing window and door screens.

6. Cover your boat, or make sure it drains completely so water cannot form puddles. If you use a tarp on the boat, make sure it doesn’t collect water.

7. Fill tree holes on your property.

8. Make sure culverts and ditches are not backed up with water. These are good breeding places for the West Nile virus carrying mosquitoes. Clear organic material. Call your health department or municipality if water is not flowing well.

9. Clean your gutters regularly. Gutters can become clogged with leaves and other organic material.

10. If you own an Oriental pond, buy a pump to make the water move or use a mosquito bacterial treatment. If you collect rain water for your garden, get rid of it after a week.

QUICK FACTS ON MOSQUITO DISEASES

La Crosse encephalitis

Encephalitis affects the nervous system. The disease, which has a death rate of 5 percent to 20 percent, usually affects children between 6 and 15. Encephalitis can progress to seizures and coma. The majority of infections result in mild illness.

The disease peaks during September when more than half of the annual cases are reported.

About 70 cases are reported a year.

Costs can include short-term hospitalization to long-term care exceeding $450,000.

Virus cycles in woodland habitats between the treehole mosquito (Aedes triseriatus) and vertebrate hosts (chipmunks, squirrels, etc.). Virus survives winter in the mosquito.

West Nile virus

Most often West Nile virus is spread by the bite of an infected mosquito. Mosquitoes become infected when they feed on infected birds. Infected mosquitoes can then spread virus to humans and other animals when they bite. In a very small number of cases, the virus also has been spread through blood transfusions, organ transplants, breastfeeding and even during pregnancy from mother to baby.

About one in 150 people develop severe illness. The severe symptoms can include high fever, headache, neck stiffness, stupor, disorientation, coma, tremors, convulsions, muscle weakness, vision loss, numbness and paralysis. These symptoms may last several weeks, and neurological effects may be permanent.

Up to 20 percent of the people who become infected have symptoms such as fever, headache, and body aches, nausea, vomiting and sometimes swollen lymph glands or a skin rash on the chest, stomach and back. Symptoms can last for as short as a few days, though even healthy people have become sick for several weeks.

About 80 percent of infected people will not show any symptoms at all.

People older than 50 are at higher risk to get severe illness.

Sources: La Crosse County Health Department and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

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