State issues mosquito alert in aftermath of heavy rains

First came the rain. Now, here come the mosquitoes.

State health officials said mosquitoes are buzzing across the state, breeding in puddles and standing water caused by recent rains, and they will only grow in numbers in the next several days.

"We're expecting the numbers to go up within the next week," said Greg Olmsted, program manager for the vector control branch of the state Department of Health. "We're going to be very busy the next couple of weeks."

While pest control experts battle the mosquitoes, Olmsted said residents need to give state workers a hand in curbing the pest population -- with something as simple as getting rid of standing water.

"Now is the time again to empty the containers around your yard," Olmsted said. "You can really protect yourself and your family."

Olmsted said that it usually takes about seven to 10 days after the last heavy rains for the mosquito females to lay their eggs and their larvae to grow.

Daytime biting mosquitoes breed in small pockets of water, so draining small containers around the yard now could make life easier in a week or so.

The mosquito species blamed for the recent increase, however, is the culex mosquito, which flies at night, according to a vector control official.

They breed in floodwaters and large pools of undisturbed water, making the lack of tradewinds over the past few weeks an added bonus to mosquito development, Olmsted said.

That is why vector control specialists have been applying larvacide to possible breeding areas throughout the state, including storm drains in downtown Honolulu and in the Sand Island area, near the sewage treatment plant.

They are also monitoring areas of standing water, such as ponds, canals and reservoirs, to target where they need to focus their eradication efforts, Olmsted said.

Donald Taketa, vector control supervisor on Maui, said he has received two complaints from Kahului and one from Kihei about the increase in the mosquito population.

"After a heavy rain, the counts do go up," he said. "It's pretty normal."

Taketa said because the ground has been saturated from heavy rains, he expects a slight increase in the mosquito population for a while.

Taketa said vector control workers have used hand pumps to spray certain low-lying areas, including Kanaha Beach Park in Kahului, the seaside area near the Kihei Post Office, and a brush area mauka of the Lahaina Aquatic Center.

He said vector control will check an area but only spray if it sees mosquito larvae.

Taketa said the recent complaint from Kihei did not turn up any signs of larvae in nearby water, but the culex mosquito can fly as far as about five miles.

On the Big Island, the state vector control office in Hilo said the number of mosquitoes is somewhat up but not in record numbers.

Vector control workers on the Big Island have been treating areas near Hilo Airport and the nearby landfill area, according to a state vector control worker.

Pest control experts usually try and attack the mosquitoes in the larval stage, before they are fully grown, Olmsted said. It is easier to treat the affected areas and more environmentally friendly.