Testing of mosquito habitats across Lake Macquarie has found no evidence of harmful viruses such as Ross River or Barmah Forest.
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Council recently completed its annual monitoring program for the year with the Department of Medical Entomology.
The monitoring found no trace of harmful mosquito-borne diseases in samples collected at Dora Creek, Teralba and Belmont South between December 2017 and May 2018.
“While none of us enjoy having mozzies around, there’s at least some comfort to be found in the news that the ones we caught were unlikely to cause more harm than an annoying, itchy bite,” council’s acting waste, environment and rangers manager, Derek Poulton, said on Monday.
“Apart from a recent spike brought on by a prolonged period of dry weather followed by heavy rain, it was also great to see that mosquito numbers were relatively low across the habitats surveyed.”
Council offered a few simple steps people could take to avoid mosquitos:
- Insect-proof the house by screening all doors and windows. Make sure all gaps are sealed as mosquitos can wriggle through openings as small as 2mm.
- If you need to be outside, especially in shaded areas and at dawn and dusk, wear light, loose-fitting clothing and use insect repellents on bare skin.
- Keep breeding sites to a minimum by making sure that pot plants and drip trays are emptied regularly.
- Do not become complacent as the weather becomes cooler as there may be disease carriers even within a smaller mosquito population.
Council’s monitoring program begins again in late 2018.
