• Avoid outdoor activities between dusk and dawn when mosquitoes are most active.
• If you must be outdoors, be sure to wear long pants, long-sleeved shirts, shoes and socks. Light colors are less attractive to mosquitoes.
• Use insect repellent containing DEET, picaridin or lemon eucalyptus oil and follow label directions; usually a concentration of 30 percent DEET for adults and 10 percent or less for children.
• Use "dunks" or "Tossits" in pools of water on your lot to control mosquito larvae.
  

To eliminate mosquito breeding sites near your home:

• Remove all discarded tires and other water-holding containers, such as tin cans and unused flower pots, from your property. Eliminate standing water from your property.
• Make sure all roof gutters are clean and drain properly.
• Clean and chlorinate pools, outdoor saunas and hot tubs. Keep them empty when not in use and drain water from pool covers.
• Change water in bird baths weekly.
• Change water in kiddie pools regularly and eliminate standing water that collects around the edges of the pools.
  

WEST NILE VIRUS INFORMATION
Primarily a wild bird disease, West Nile virus has affected horses and a small number of people. Human symptoms are generally mild. Less than one percent of people bitten by an infected mosquito will become severely ill. Common symptoms of West Nile virus are flu-like and occur 3 to 15 days after a bite from an infected mosquito. These may include fever, muscle weakness, body aches, and skin rash with swollen lymph nodes.
The public should use the preventative measures below to reduce their exposure to mosquitoes:

Protect Yourself and Family
* People can be infected if they are bitten by a mosquito that has the virus.
* West Nile Virus (WNV) causes an infection that can lead to encephalitis, which is swelling of the brain.
Some people will have a mild fever, headache, and muscle aches, which may lead to confusion,
weakness, stiff neck, tremors, or convulsions. Many people will not get sick at all with WNV.
* Stay inside in the early morning (dawn) and late evening (dusk).
* Use repellents that contain DEET.

Mosquitoes! Not in My Backyard
Mosquitoes grow in water that lasts for a week or more. The dirtier the water, the more the disease-carrying mosquitoes like it. You can reduce mosquitoes around your home by removing or draining containers that hold water.
* Throw away pop cans, buckets, bottles, old tires and old flower pots that may hold water.
* Turn over or cover things that fill up with water, such as barrels, kiddie pools, and wheelbarrows.
* Change the water in birdbaths every week.
* Drill holes in flower pots or anything that holds water.
* Clean out rain gutters.
* Fix leaking outside faucets.
* Clean out ditches so water can flow.
* Fill places that hold water with gravel or dirt.
* Stock ornamental ponds with mosquito eating fish, such as goldfish or guppies.
* Cut high weeds around your house and pond, because mosquitoes rest in these weeds.

Additional Personal Prevention Measures:
* Use mosquito repellents and follow label directions and precautions closely.
* Do not apply mosquito repellent with more than 10% DEET to children and never on children less than three years old. Do not apply directly to children but apply to your own hands and then put it on the children.
* Avoid activities between dusk and dawn when mosquitoes are likely to be biting.
* If you must be outdoors when mosquitoes are active, cover up by wearing shoes, socks, long sleeve shirts and long pants. Light colors are less attractive to mosquitoes.

Eliminate Mosquito Breeding Sites:
* Empty standing water in old tires, cemetery urns, buckets, plastic covers, toys, or any other container where "wigglers" can live.
* Empty and change the water in bird baths, fountains, wading pools, rain barrels, and potted plant trays at least once a week if not more often.
* Drain or fill temporary pools with dirt.
* Keep swimming pools treated and circulating and rain gutters unclogged.
* Make sure window and door screens are "bug tight."
* Replace your outdoor lights with yellow "bug" lights.

West Nile Virus Background:
West Nile virus is spread to humans by the bite of infected mosquito. When a mosquito bites a bird that carries the virus, the mosquito becomes infected. Once a mosquito is infected, it may transmit the virus to people or animals when it bites them. Many birds can be infected, but crows and blue jays are most likely to die from the disease. Horses are also prone to West Nile virus infection. People can not get West Nile virus from another person who has the disease.

Websites for further information:
ODH - www.odh.state.oh.us (search for West Nile)
CDC - www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/westnile/index.htm
MORCHD - www.richlandhealth.org/mosquito.html