Summer is arriving in the Ottawa-Gatineau area, and with the heat and humidity comes an reinvigorated population of mosquitoes.
The insects have been so bad in Gatineau, Que., this spring that some pupils at Trivium Academy told Radio-Canada this week that recess has become a living hell.
The situation was serious enough that on Wednesday, one primary school teacher at Trivium called on Gatineau city council to reverse a local ban on the use of the biopesticide Bti, or Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis.
While the mosquitoes are annoying to schoolkids, hikers and gardeners, officials are warning of the risk they pose to public health.
In the Ottawa area, one dead bird recently tested positive for West Nile virus, according to Ottawa Public Health (OPH).
“That tipped us off that we’re into West Nile virus season now,” said Dr. Emil Prikryl, an OPH associate medical officer of health.
The virus, which usually emerges in late summer, is primarily spread by the northern house mosquito, which is particularly prevalent in urban areas.
Ottawa Public Health says people should take precautions to avoid being bitten, like covering up with long clothing when outside and using insect repellant. (Simon Lasalle/Radio-Canada)
While around a dozen people will test positive for West Nile virus in Ottawa in an average year, many people will remain asymptomatic.
But the virus can cause serious neurological disease and even death, with the risk increasing with age.
“Mosquitoes are certainly a nuisance, but they can sometimes lead to illness, which can, in older adults in particular, be quite severe,” Prikryl told CBC.
OPH recommends eliminating standing water from around the home, since mosquitoes use it to breed. The health unit also says people should take precautions to avoid being bitten, like covering up with long clothing when outside and using insect repellant.
After a cooler start to spring, the recent warm wet weather means more mosquitoes are starting to emerge now, according to Mehra Balsara, a PhD student at Carleton University who studies West Nile virus in the Ottawa region.
“Temperature, humidity and the amount of standing water: those are the big environmental conditions that we look at,” she said. “So yeah, right now is probably going to be a pretty bad time for mosquitoes.”
Mehra Balsara is a PhD student at Carleton University who studies West Nile virus in the Ottawa region. (Matthew Kupfer/CBC)
The rain and high overnight temperatures this week have provided the perfect breeding environment, said Thom Bourne, the owner of Mosquito.buzz, an insect control company.
Surging mosquito numbers means booming business for companies like his, Bourne said.
“This will be a record number of customers for the season in terms of what we’re getting for applications,” he said.
But with the peak of the mosquito season still to come, the blood-suckers weren’t yet voracious enough to disturb daytime parkgoers at the Dominion Arboretum on Thursday.
“I’m not sure what their schedule is, but we seem to have different shifts,” said Anton Voichuk, who was enjoying the weather on a picnic blanket on the grass.
“It’s manageable,” he said of the bug numbers this spring. “But it feels like there are more and more mosquitoes around.”