Tips For Avoiding West Nile This Summer

Cases of the West Nile Virus have already . Below are tips to avoid infection from the Pennsylvania West Nile Virus Control Program's website.

• Dispose of tin cans, plastic containers, ceramic pots or similar water-holding containers that have collected on your property.
• Pay special attention to discarded tires. Stagnant water in tires are where most mosquitoes breed.
• Have clogged roof gutters cleaned every year, particularly if the leaves from surrounding trees have a tendency to plug up the drains. Roof gutters can produce millions of mosquitoes each season.
• Turn over plastic wading pools when not in use. Stagnant water in a wading pool becomes a place for mosquitoes to breed.
• Turn over wheelbarrows and don't let water stagnate in birdbaths. Both provide breeding habitats for domestic mosquitoes.
• Aerate ornamental pools or stock them with fish. Water gardens can become major mosquito producers if they are allowed to stagnate. Clean and chlorinate swimming pools not in use. A swimming pool left untended by a family on vacation for a month can produce enough mosquitoes to result in neighborhood-wide complaints. Mosquitoes may even breed in the water that collects on pool covers.