MARICOPA COUNTY — So far in 2023, there have been 30 reported cases of West Nile Virus in Maricopa County. That is ahead of the 2022 pace. In 2021, there were 1,478 cases in the county and 101 people died from the disease.
To try to avoid repeating those numbers, Maricopa County Environmental Services Department is tracking mosquitoes and they say mosquito populations are in check right now.
"They can go from zero to 60 real fast and right now they're kind of subdued a little bit," said Maricopa County Environmental Services Department Vector Control Division Manager John Townsend. "Once we start getting standing water around, it'll really take off."
Townsend said the scorching summer heat isn't just impacting people, it's also cutting the life span of mosquitoes in half from six weeks down to just three.
Townsend helps oversee teams that set traps to catch mosquitoes and test them for deadly diseases. There are 930 traps around the county, set out at night and cleaned out in the mornings.
The traps themselves are pretty rudimentary: dry ice inside a cooler, putting out mosquito-attracting carbon dioxide with a fan funneling mosquitoes that gather into a net.
"They're attracted to CO2," Townsend said. "Every time you take a breath, that's what attracts the mosquitoes to you."
He says the vast majority of infected mosquitoes do their biting at night, making long clothing and insect repellent a must if you plan to walk or be outside after dark.
"Most of the mosquitoes everybody sees in their backyard aren't these nighttime biting mosquitoes. They don't come out during the daytime. They're only active at night," Townsend said.
As for the ones nipping at your ankles in the daylight, Townsend says they're a nuisance but fairly harmless.
Townsend says the summer months can worry him since any monsoon storms this season could cause the mosquito population to surge.
"Especially with storms and monsoon flow, if you have standing water in your yard, you need to go dump that water out, or else sooner or later, you'll start getting mosquitoes coming out of your own yard," Townsend said.
The county offers tips on the four R's to help "Fight the Bite": repel, remove, repair and remind.
