By: Jennifer Imler
The economic downturn manifests itself in numerous ways, including an increase in foreclosed homes. Abandoned properties affect the neighborhood in expected ways (such as decreased property values) and in unexpected ways (such as a surge in mosquito populations). Rats, bugs, and those pesky mosquitoes move in as soon as your neighbor moves out, creating a public health hazard by increasing the risk of diseases such as West Nile virus.
Mosquitoes need standing water to hatch their eggs, but can do so in as little as a bottle cap or tablespoon of water. So abandoned swimming pools, even ones that are drained, present the perfect breeding site for mosquitoes, carriers of the West Nile Virus. One abandoned swimming pool can support more than a million mosquitoes, with those one million mosquitoes affecting neighborhoods within a five-mile radius.
With the rise in foreclosures and abandoned swimming pools, comes a rise in the risk of West Nile virus, creating a public health hazard. Some cities with high foreclosure rates are responding to neighbor complaints by introducing mosquito fish, which eat mosquito larvae, to the abandoned pool. Mosquito fish are rather hardy with large appetites, consuming up to 200+ mosquito larvae a day. While introducing mosquito fish to the infected area can prevent a mosquito population explosion, these fish should never be introduced into natural streams, lakes, rivers, ponds or other local water sources.
As long as foreclosures continue to rise, abandoned swimming pools will increasingly continue to pose a public health hazard. So what can you do to help protect your family and your neighborhood? Notify your local or county Health Department about the foreclosed or abandoned property. Check out our previous blog post on Site Sourcing for tips on how to reduce the mosquito population in your yard. You can also call Mosquito Squad. We offer a low-cost Abandoned Pool Service. We treat the infected property and the abandoned swimming pool with larvacide to help protect your neighborhood from the nuisance and diseases associated with mosquitoes.
For more information on mosquito fish, please see: Mosquito Fish Facts
For more information, please see the following article from UPI.com: Foreclosures Bring Out the Bugs
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