Miami makes the mosquito cities Top 10 list. Here’s how you can avoid the sting
If only mosquitoes and hurricanes were bound by quarantine orders.
But for all of the coronavirus’ impact on society, it has no sway on the seasons. Mosquito season is already here. Hurricane season comes June 1.
Both will be active, forecasters say.
“Brutal,” is the way Narcity News put it in reference to mosquito season.
And the Orkin pest control company’s annual Top 50 Mosquito Cities list has Miami rising four positions from last year to land in the Top 10 — not with a bullet but with a sting.
Atlanta is ranked No. 1 for the seventh consecutive year, according to Orkin.
“With much of the country under a shelter-in-place order, backyards will be busier than ever at the outset of mosquito season as residents seek recreation without leaving home. Increased outdoor time may lead to increased experience with these blood-sucking pests,” Orkin reps said in a statement.
The other Florida cities to bite their way onto the list: Tampa at No. 16, Orlando at No. 20, West Palm Beach at No. 34 and Jacksonville at No. 45.
Every one of Florida’s cities improved upon its rankings from last year’s survey by rising from one (Jacksonville) to eight positions (West Palm Beach) — if you’re taking the mosquitoes’ perspective.
This is one chart — like the daily COVID-19 and the National Hurricane Center’s — we’d prefer to slip off of. But at least mosquitoes aren’t transmitting the coronavirus, the World Health Organization says.
Mosquito-borne illness alert
According to Narcity, the Miami ranking (which means Miami-Dade County) comes after the Florida Department of Health issued a mosquito-borne illness alert for the dates April 19-25.
The arbovirus surveillance report in Florida looks at endemic mosquito-borne viruses such as West Nile virus, Eastern equine encephalitis virus, St. Louis encephalitis virus, dengue virus, chikungunya virus, Zika, California encephalitis group viruses and malaria, a parasitic mosquito-borne disease.
None of these viruses were detected in the survey period. But “due to increased testing needs in response to COVID-19, the Florida Department of Health is temporarily suspending testing of sentinel chickens and mosquito pools. There will be no new test results posted until testing is reinstituted,” the department said.
Monroe County — the Florida Keys — is under a mosquito-borne illness advisory, and Miami-Dade is the only county that has continually been under this alert since the start of the year, according to the state’s health department.
How to protect against mosquitoes
Miami-Dade County recently promoted its first Florida Mosquito Control Awareness Week, something the Mosquito Control Division plans to make an annual campaign to push its “Fight the Bite” and “Drain and Cover” messaging on social media ahead of the peak mosquito season.
The county and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention offer these tips on preventing mosquito bites:
▪ Use insect repellent with either DEET, Picaridin, IR3535, oil of lemon eucalyptus, Para-menthane-diol and 2-undecanone.
▪ Cover up in long-sleeved shirts and long pants. (Yes, we know it’s over 90 degrees in South Florida. Maybe this is one more incentive to stay indoors as much as possible.)
▪ Drain standing water from potted plants and other water-gathering things in your yards. In the county’s words, “drain and cover.”
▪ Keep doors closed and repair screens to keep flies and skeeters from buzzing indoors.
Orkin’s Top 10 Mosquito Cities
1. Atlanta
2. Los Angeles (+10)
3. Washington, D.C.
4. New York (-2)
5. Chicago (-1)
6. Dallas-Ft. Worth
7. Detroit
8. Charlotte, N.C. (+1)
9. Philadelphia (-1)
10. Miami (+4)
This story was originally published April 29, 2020 at 11:57 AM with the headline "Miami makes the mosquito cities Top 10 list. Here’s how you can avoid the sting."
