Section Branding
Header Content
Health Experts Offer Tips For Avoiding Mosquitoes, Disease
Primary Content
Gwinnett County health officials say a resident is recovering from West Nile Virus. It’s the third suspected case in the state this year. On the whole, mosquito-borne illnesses have been on the rise since 2004.
Roxanne Connelly is the Entomology and Ecology Team Lead with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Division of Vector-Borne Diseases. She tells GPB’s Emily Jones that, so far, this summer has been slow — but it’s too soon to tell how the year will add up.Roxanne Connelly of the CDC discusses mosquito-borne illnesses and how to avoid them.
Some interview highlights
On the impact of climate change:
"Rising temperatures certainly make better conditions for mosquitoes. They like hot weather and water, so rainfall certainly helps mosquito populations to rise. But there's a lot of things that play a role in disease transmission, so we're not just looking at temperature or rainfall."
On always wearing bug spray:
“Sometimes we don’t know that mosquitoes are out, but if you’re in the southeast in the summer, you’re going to encounter mosquitoes pretty much any time you go outdoors.”
On keeping mosquitoes away:
"You can make sure that you're doing clean-ups around your home, and even communities can participate in clean-up days where you're getting rid of things that hold water."
Secondary Content
Bottom Content
