Invasive mosquitoes still active in Sacramento. Where they’re biting before Labor Day holiday
A new invasive mosquito taking root in the Sacramento region during a busy year for West Nile virus has local vector officials on the lookout ahead of the Labor Day weekend.
The mosquito Aedes aegypti was spotted for the first time this week in Elk Grove and in Orangevale, said Sacramento-Yolo Mosquito and Vector Control District officials, joining known breeding grounds in the Arden Arcade area and in Winters in Yolo County. Vector district officials reported the first sightings of the invasive mosquitoes in 2019 in Citrus Heights.
The sightings come as West Nile virus activity has been, in officials’ words, “steady and widespread” in both Sacramento and Yolo counties.
To date in Sacramento and Yolo counties, 127 mosquito samples and 89 dead birds have tested positive for the virus which can cause a variety of serious symptoms and can prove fatal.
“We are heading into the time of year where these mosquitoes are the most active and we need your help to control them,” said Gary Goodman, manager of the Sacramento-Yolo Mosquito and Vector Control District. “We still have a few weeks before the summer season officially ends, so it’s very important for everyone to do their part and stay protected, especially as we head into the holiday weekend.”
The mosquitoes this year were first sighted in May, months earlier than in previous years.
The invasive species that can also carry yellow fever has also recently been spotted in Sutter County, north of Sacramento. Aedes aegypti mosquitoes were detected in Yuba City in August, Sutter-Yuba Mosquito and Vector Control District officials said.
The small, dark mosquitoes lay their eggs above water in small containers such as bird baths, pet dishes and flower pots, but can also lay eggs in items as small as a bottle cap.
The new sightings concern vector officials, who say the invasive mosquitoes can transmit viruses including Zika and dengue.
Vector district officials say they will step up surveillance, setting up traps, conducting door-to-door inspections to hunt down breeding sites and talking to residents about preventative measures they can take to keep the mosquitoes at bay.
This year, 26 cases of West Nile have been reported statewide as of Monday, state health officials reported, including the year’s first death due to West Nile virus in San Luis Obispo County in July. Health officials there said the person likely contracted the virus while traveling in a county where West Nile-infected mosquitoes are common.
More than 300 people in California have died from the virus since 2003, according to the California Department of Public Health.
The July case was also the first case of West Nile reported in 2021, San Luis Obispo County health officials said at the time.
No human cases have been reported this year in the four-county Sacramento region of El Dorado, Placer, Sacramento and Yolo counties.
But Sacramento and Yolo counties have accounted for more than half of the 155 dead birds that tested positive for the virus with 89 birds, according to the state Department of Public Health.
Twelve California counties have reported human West Nile virus cases led by Butte County with eight reported cases.
For more information, report mosquito breeding grounds or to address mosquito problems, call the vector control district at 800-429-1022 or visit fightthebite.net.
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