By Gig Conaughton, County of San Diego Communications Office

April 19, 2023 (San Diego) - San Diego County is scheduled to conduct its first routine aerial larvicide drop of the year next week on up to 51 local waterways to help stop mosquitoes from potentially spreading diseases like West Nile virus.

County asks public’s help to report and eradicate invasive mosquitos that can transmit dangerous diseases including Yellow Fever and Zika

By Miriam Raftery

August 28, 2019 (San Diego) – Lakeside resident Dennis Richardson was appalled to discover that “thousands” of Yellow Fever mosquitos were breeding in water dishes under potted plants at his home.  His grandfather was a sanitation engineer who worked to eradicate Yellow Fever so that Americans could build the Panama canal and later battled a Yellow Fever epidemic in Peru. Richardson says, “This work was deadly for most who did the work, as most got yellow fever.”

By Gig Conaughton, County of San Diego Communications Office

October 30, 2018 (San Diego) - Halloween is here, but it’s still warm outside — and that means it’s a good idea to add some insect repellent under your costume, because Dracula won’t be the only bloodsucker wandering neighborhoods with trick or treaters.

Aggressive, day-biting, hairy-legged mosquitos can transmit heartworms to pets

By Gig Conaughton, County of San Diego Communications Office

June 1, 2018 (La Mesa) -- San Diego County residents now have one more reason to find and dump out standing water in and around their homes to fight mosquitoes.

County environmental health officials have found a new type of invasive, aggressive, day-biting mosquito in La Mesa — the Australian backyard mosquito, Aedes notoscriptus, also known as the “Aussie Mozzie.”

Image Credit: CDC--mosquito larvae

By Gig Conaughton, County of San Diego Communications Office

February 26, 2017 (San Diego) -- If you’ve got a rain barrel, this winter’s rains have been great! Your barrel is full. You’re conserving water. You’re watering your garden naturally. You’re growing mosquitoes …

By Gig Conaughton, County of San Diego Communications Office

Source: County New Service

July 26, 2016 (San Diego's East County) - They just might be a mosquito’s worst nightmare.

Which means they could also be a dream come true for lots of San Diego County residents.

Gambusia affinis. They’re more commonly known as mosquitofish. They’re tiny. They’re ravenous.

By Gig Conaughton, County of San Diego Communications Office

Source:  County News Service

July 12, 2016 (San Diego) - San Diego County’s vector control program has already collected more batches of West Nile virus-infected mosquitoes by the second week of July than it did in all of 2015.

By Miriam Raftery

December 14, 2015 (San Diego)--A rare but serious birth defect in Brazil has been linked to a mosquito—the Aedes aegypti species, which has recently been found in San Diego County.

This type of mosquito was already known to carry diseases such as Yellow Fever, dengue fever, chikungunya and the Zika virus.  But now the Zika virus is suspected of causing microencephaly, a rare neurological disorder that results in infants having small heads and underdeveloped brains, resulting in severe developmental issues. The mosquito bites an expectant mother, transmitting the disease to her unborn child.  Babies born with this illness are likely to die young and require constant care.