TOLEDO, Ohio — A rainy July in Lucas County paired with warmer weather means standing water and a lot more mosquitoes.
Currently, mosquito nuisance conditions are high in Lucas County.
The general manager of the Toledo Area Sanitary District, Paul Bauman, said spring was very mild and dry, which was atypical. Now that temperatures are warmer and there's been a fair amount of rainfall since the start of July, mosquitoes develop quickly in the warmer water. It's also more difficult for the department to treat standing water before the mosquitoes become adults.
His staff is trying to keep up with fogging treatment to take care of them but the rain also slows that process down.
There are things you can do to avoid being bitten, Bauman said.
"(Start with) dumping out things that have water around the home breeding mosquitoes. (Dump out) birdbaths, (and) clean rain gutters. Any kind of junk you have lying around that can collect water," Bauman said. "You really want to focus on wearing repellant. If it's tolerable, (wear) long sleeves and long pants."
There's not a huge concern right now for mosquitoes carrying diseases like West Nile virus, even though a mosquito pool sample tested positive for the virus in late June, Bauman said.