UTAH COUNTY, Utah — From the whir of boats to the splashing of fish caught on a hook, Wednesday felt more like a midsummer’s day than the middle of March out at Utah Lake.
Vineyard resident Zoey Delaney’s gotten her toes in the sand at her neighborhood beach every day this week, but the warmth creates a trade-off.
“Today, it was a good 85, UV of 7. It’s been lovely out here, good weather!” said Delaney. “You get the lovely weather but you do have to accept that there’s going to be bugs all over the place."
As temperatures reached unseasonable highs once again, one of the impacts is that bugs are hatching earlier and potentially in greater numbers.
We’re coming off a year where CDC data shows that mosquitoes transmitted 48 cases of West Nile Virus to humans here in the state. So we wanted to know if these warmer temps could bring about a longer breeding season for the biting bugs.
“We are seeing a little bit of an uptick in mosquito populations,” said Jason Bird. “I don’t think it’s uncommon for mosquitoes to take advantage of this weather.”
Bird directs the Utah County Mosquito Abatement District. He and his team were out doing surveillance at county hotspots, carefully inspecting scoop after scoop of standing water in a Spanish Fork pond.
He found a few larvae, but he says that activity is still minimal. So their focus is on preparing for the busy season.
“We are currently overhauling our entire trap system for the CO2 traps we use throughout the county,” Bird said.
Inside the lab in their district office, the only buzzing that could be heard at this time of year came from 3-D printers creating pieces of the new traps for them to assemble.
Once they’re made and ready to go, Bird says he and his team will set up the traps at 36 trapping locations around the county.
The seasonal staff are set to come aboard in a matter of weeks, and fogging will follow.
“There’s no plans to really start spraying until closer to Memorial Day,” said Bird. “That said, if thresholds are met before then…we will do our due diligence to make that happen.”
In the meantime, they know there’s some activity out there.
“I’m allergic to mosquitoes,” said Brooke Guymon, who lives in Pleasant Grove. “I get really puffed up and so I’m worried about that.”
Bird says it’s not too early to start thinking about removing standing water from your yards. If you’re getting out into nature, he advises wearing loose-fitting, long sleeves and spraying on repellent.
“I don’t want it to shy us away from being outdoors, so we’ll just take extra precautions,” Guymon said.
If you want to see the latest information on surveillance, spraying and what areas are being treated this summer, you can visit the mosquito abatement page on the Utah County Health Department website here.
