According to a CDC specialist, certain types of mosquitoes that carry disease are a “primary concern in the U.S. right now.” Mosquito populations are growing given the unprecedented heat waves and rainfall, and apparently, mosquitoes are becoming resistant to some bug repellents.
NBC News reports that a CDC lab studying the pesky insect has found through testing that mosquitoes are living longer after being exposed to chemicals meant to repel them. A welcoming environment and weakened defense against them is worrying federal health officials that malaria and West Nile Virus, two serious diseases transferred by a single mosquito bite, could become a more common threat to the public than they were decades ago.
For the first time in 20 years, people in Texas and Florida are contracting locally acquired malaria. In 2003, nearly 10,000 cases of West Nile Virus were reported nationwide.
Fewer than 100 cases of West Nile virus have been reported this year, but cases typically peak in August and September. And the CDC says there are more mosquitoes today than there were 20 years ago. In places with heavy rainfall throughout 2023, like Fort Collins, Colorado, there are as many as five times the number of mosquitoes compared to last year.
In Maricopa County, Arizona where record-breaking high temperatures are making for homey conditions for the mosquito, 149 traps tested positive for West Nile–compared to eight last year.
Although a tiny insect often seen as a humming nuisance, the mosquito is the deadliest animal in the world. Scientists have their global population at more than 100 trillion and they are responsible for up to a million deaths per year.