San Joaquin Valley health officials are bracing for what already is shaping up to be a bad mosquito season — and potentially a severe West Nile virus year — as spring rains and foreclosures give the bugs plenty of places to multiply.
“We definitely have our work cut out for us,” said Michael Alburn, manager of the Delta Vector Control District in Visalia.
Even drained swimming pools are holding several feet of water deposited by recent heavy rains.
And in the shaky economy, people continue to lose homes to foreclosure or can’t afford to keep pool filters running. They leave thousands of abandoned and neglected pools full to save them from damage, but the stagnant water creates perfect nests for female mosquitoes.
Knocking out mosquitoes is crucial to preventing West Nile virus. The virus attacks the central nervous system and is spread by mosquitoes that feed on infected birds.
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