San Mateo County residents encouraged to dump standing water

While mosquitoes are in the county year-round, they mature to biting mosquitoes more quickly during the warmer months. They might be even more of a pain this year than those prior, though. Due to the recent years of rainy winters, there’s a lot more water standing for a longer time into the summer season compared to when California was in a drought.

“All this standing water around, we want people to be extra vigilant about anything in their backyard that might be holding standing water and dump any excess out at least once a week,” Curtis-Robles said.

The stagnant water can create breeding locations for the disease-spreading mosquitoes.

Certain birds, including the common crow and many ravens, may carry West Nile virus. A dead crow was reported in Menlo Park on May 9 and the virus was detected after inspection. When a mosquito bites an infected bird, the mosquito then becomes infected and can pass the virus onto the people or animals they bite. Residents can help surveil the presence of the virus in the county by calling in reports of dead birds to the organization, Curtis-Robles said.

“A dead bird is a possible sign of the virus,” Curtis-Robles said. “When we find a dead bird with the virus, we make sure to do extra surveillance around that location and test mosquitoes and that will give us a big clue as to whether or not it is in local mosquitoes and whether or not human health has the potential to be affected by that.”

No sign of local mosquitoes carrying the virus have been made, but Curtis-Robles maintains that residents should do what they can to avoid being bitten altogether.

Residents can deter mosquito bites by using a repellent with DEET or picaridin while outside, especially during sunrise and sunset when mosquitoes are most active. The district also says residents who notice biting mosquitoes should call (650) 344-8592 or visit smcmvcd.org to report activity.

Using repellents approved and recommended by the Environmental Protection Agency can also help avoid bites from ticks which may be more common during the summer by sheer increase in time spent outside. The organization also recommends wearing long pants and sleeves, and tucking pants into socks and shirts into pants.

Yellow jackets are also an increased concern during the warmer months and the Mosquito and Vector Control District can help address concerns about nests. These are the types of wasps that may bother you while you’re picnicking or barbecuing. However, the most commonly identified nests that may be found along a roof line tend to be paper wasps, which are far less aggressive than yellow jackets.

For no cost, the organization will remove and treat yellow jacket nests, but its location has to be known. Yellow jackets live in ground nests and can be identified by a hole in the ground that has a tunnel that has a high presence of yellow jackets flying in and out of the tunnel to their underground nest.

“We can either come and control that nest or help residents understand that it might not be the scary kind of wasp and that they can actually be ecologically beneficial, or we can go out and control that nest,” Curtis-Robles said. “You have to just know what you’re dealing with and that can help you understand what solutions may be.”

Education is a major facet of the organization’s efforts, Curtis-Robles said, and hopes residents feel comfortable calling and asking any questions they may have.

“We’ll go out and we’ll look at it and we’ll see how we can help,” she said. “Sometimes it’s just a matter of a little bit of education to lessen any fears about the concern. We hope to be very responsive to the community and be helpful when we can and refer to other resources as needed.”