The crowd gathered for Seymour’s Fourth of July Fireworks Celebration at Freeman Field was joined by a large number of unwanted guests — mosquitoes.

The insects appear to be showing up in greater numbers across the county.

“You can’t even get out of the car without getting a few on you,” Peg Mellenbruch said.

The mosquitoes have been “super bad” in the Rockford area just north of Seymour, she added.

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Paula Weaver agreed mosquitoes have been terrible in the city this year.

“We had a piano moved, and the guys doing it remarked they were getting bit a lot,” she said. “My daughter and a friend were playing in my front yard spraying each other with the hose a few days ago. They each had a lot of bites all over them. We live in town, and it has never been like this.”

Paul Ramsey, environmental health director with the Jackson County Department of Health, said it might seem like the mosquito problem is bigger than it is. He said the number of mosquitoes isn’t greater, but the past several years have seen a marked delay in the time of year the mosquitoes hatch and mature.

“Is it greater than past years? No, I don’t think so; (it’s) just at a different time,” Ramsey said.

In years past, mosquitoes generally hatched and fed earlier in the year, but they’ve just started showing up in recent days, he added.

“A lot of its due to the weather. We’ve had wetter, cooler weather,” Ramsey said. “Mosquitoes haven’t really had a chance to finish their breeding cycle till only recently.”

The health department typically helps control the local mosquito population using larvacide (chemicals to disrupt or kill mosquito larva in standing water) and fogging.

Annually, Ramsey can be seen out systematically fogging public areas, such as parks, and hot spots for mosquitoes, particularly around areas prone to flooding. The weather this year, however, has prevented the health department from treating a single site.

“We don’t get any results if they are not out and active, so we have to wait,” Ramsey said. “It has to be an evening with no rain and little wind.”

Once he’s able to start spraying, he will focus on parks where ball tournaments are being played and areas where festivals are conducted, including in Brownstown, where the Jackson County Fair will take place at the end of the month.

He’ll also look at traditional problem areas, he said. Those include Seymour’s north side, Brownstown, Medora and along the East Fork White River.

“They’re all going to see increases (in mosquitoes) until floodwater dries up,” Ramsey said.

While large numbers of mosquitoes appearing later in the year might seem only a small annoyance to some, they can become a bigger issue, he said.

Mosquitoes that come out around twilight, or “nighttime biters” as Ramsey calls them, have the potential to carry life-threatening diseases. The later the mosquitoes hatch and mature, the more time the nighttime biters have to feed, meaning more potential bites and more chances to spread diseases, including West Nile virus, Ramsey said.

While fear of West Nile virus has decreased in recent years, the threat remains, he added.

“West Nile virus is out there, and it’ll be out there forever,” he said.

West Nile virus is transmitted to humans by mosquitoes. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 70 to 80 percent of people infected with the disease show no symptoms. One in five can have fever, a headache, body aches, body stiffness, vomiting, diarrhea and a rash, all symptoms similar to the flu. Less than 1 percent of those infected develop severe neurological conditions.

The best way to prevent infection is to keep from getting bitten by using bug spray or wearing clothing to cover the arms and legs.

Ramsey said one of the best things people can do to reduce exposure is eliminating standing water in flower pots or other areas around homes.

Ramsey said he hopes to have a fogging schedule arranged and posted on both the health department’s website, sites.google.com/site/jacksoncountyhealthdepartment/ and on its Facebook page.

Mellenbruch and Weaver aren’t the only people talking about the mosquito problem.

Shawna Boas of Seymour also said the mosquitoes have been worse this year.

“They don’t seem to mind repellent either,” she said. “Every time I work in my garden, I get eaten alive.”

In response to a social media inquiry, residents in Cortland, Mutton Creek, on Robin Hood Drive and on Sixth Street responded they were seeing more mosquitoes than normal in those areas.

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Jackson County Health Departments offers the following recommendations to lower the risk of being bitten and possibly contracting the West Nile virus:

• Use a mosquito repellent that contains DEET and follow label directions.
• Wear long-sleeved shirts, long pants and shoes when outdoors during dusk to dawn.
• Fix any holes in screens (or install new ones) and make sure they are tightly attached to doors and windows.
• Minimize outdoor activities between dusk and dawn, if possible.
• Use mosquito netting when sleeping outdoors or camping.

For information or to report a possible mosquito problem in a neighborhood, call the health department at 812-522-6474.

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