By: Sam T. Jensen — samj@977thebolt.com
Ames, Iowa — Iowa State University researchers are urging Iowans to take caution around mosquitoes this season.
A study conducted at ISU, nearly 15 years in the making, finds that a person is most likely to contract the West Nile virus from mosquitoes in the west side of Iowa.”
Entomologist Ryan Smith says farmland counties in western Iowa are prone to a certain mosquito that may contain the West Nile virus. They thrive in ditches and runoff in less urbanized areas.
Humboldt is one of the counties where this mosquito is found.
Smith says even 15 years of data “isn’t fully enough to really understand what is going on” and weather patterns definitely have an impact on mosquitoes and transmission of disease.
In 2018, the Department of Public Health found that Iowa had 103 cases of West Nile, five of which were fatal.