There's plenty of water sitting around a month after the historic flooding and that's the perfect breeding ground for mosquitos. Now everything residents in places like Paradise Lakes are taking out of their condemned homes and leaving on the curb is creating a perfect breeding environment entomologist Jonathan Larson tells 6 News.
“They will put their eggs in those spots and when they fill up with water they will hatch out.” He says trash cans, pots, even abandoned toilets are some of those potential spots.
Similar mosquito population explosions are possible in parts of Southwestern Iowa because of standing water.
The best way to curb a mosquito population is by emptying containers weekly. But with the mobile homes abandoned and no demolition date set that chore won't be done. “If things don't get cleaned up in time and that water is still there at some point in the middle of this summer those mosquitoes will find it and they will use it,” Larson says.
Larson said he's received calls about mosquitoes already this year but they usually don't see them in full force until late May. He says if you have to be in an area that potentially has a lot of mosquitoes, put you're safety first and wear repellents.
Larson tells 6 News the types of mosquitoes that lay eggs in tires and containers are the ones that carry West Nile Virus.