Mosquitoes and other biting insects are a bit of a pest. If living in the tropics they are a nuisance, as well as a vector of some serious diseases. Zika virus is the newest one to hit the headlines, but there are plenty more.......and more serious too.
Locally in north Australia the more notable issues relate to Ross River Fever, Barmah Forest virus, Murray Valley Encephalitis as well as Dengue Fever and possibly Chikungunya Virus in some areas, Overseas in Asia, Dengue and Malaria can be of major concern.
Often the pesky biting is enough to cause problems, even without disease issues.
Standing shallow and still water can be a major haven for harbouring mosquitoes.
An article prepared for Stormwater magazine way back in 2002 is still relevant in providing ideas, guidelines and a reality check about water and mosquitoes.
It was prepared with the US situation first and centre of mind, but is a relevant readable article for use in Australia too. Information on insecticides is a bit dated but the concepts are useful to understand.
The link is here :
http://foresternetwork.com/weekly/stormwater-weekly/the-dark-side-of-stormwater-runoff-management-disease-vectors-associated-with-structural-bmps/
The other link below refers to Zika virus details based on US data - although the primary carrier mosquito is not nominally present in Australia.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/health/zika-virus/?hpid=hp_no-name_graphic-story-b%3Ahomepage%2Fstory
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I love this
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