(WSVN) - Some pests are apparently making the Sunshine State their new home, and experts warn residents need to be careful and take steps to avoid exposure.
Dr. Lawrence Reeves, a researcher at the University of Florida, said he and his team have discovered a new breed of mosquito.
“It took us maybe a year or so to pin down what exactly this mosquito was,” he said. “This is a mosquito that looks similar to mosquitoes that already occur in the state, so like, on first pass, we didn’t think too much of it. We went back to look for some other mosquitoes out of that specimen samples and noticed these guys, noticed that the looked a little bit off from what we normally expect.”
The population of this new type of mosquito, Culex lactator, is exploding. It has been detected in Miami-Dade County, as well as Lee and Collier counties.
Reeves said these new mosquitoes could carry a wide array of diseases.
“Dengue, chikungunya and zika, those are viruses that are all vectored by non-native tropical mosquitoes,” he said.
Experts said the steps to take when it comes to avoiding or limiting exposure to Culex lactator are the same as with any other type of mosquito:
- Drain and cover. Try to limit standing water near your home.
- Dress in long sleeves and pants. Try to cover as much skin as possible.
- Avoid being outside during the hours of dusk and dawn, when mosquitoes are more active.
- Use insect repellent with DEET.
“We can’t control, perhaps, the climate or how mosquitoes arrive here in the state, but what we can control is how our surroundings might be impacting mosquito populations,” said Reeves.
Meanwhile, experts are trying to determine whether these new mosquitoes will be carrying anything along with them to South Florida.
“Looking forward, we need to try to figure out how these mosquitoes are getting here and how we can prevent them from arriving,” said Reeves.
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