TUESDAY October 25, 2022: 'MOSQUITO COAST' by Award Winning Tribune Photographers: The largest single outbreak in U.S. history of West Nile virus disease occurred in Arizona last summer, over 1,600 cases were reported. Why last year? A wetter-than-average monsoonal season likely contributed to the magnitude of the outbreak. The rise in cases may be a sign of what's to come: As climate change brings more drought and pushes temperatures toward what is termed the 'Goldilocks zone' for mosquitoes, not too hot, not too cold. Most people infected with WNV develop only mild symptoms but some will develop a life-threatening illness that includes inflammation of the spinal cord or brain. Climate change may push the US further toward the 'goldilocks' temperature for west nile virus. Welcome to 'MOSQUITO COAST'
© Reportage.com Story of the Week #860: TUESDAY October 25, 2022: 'MOSQUITO COAST' by Award Winning Tribune Photographers: The largest single outbreak in U.S. history of West Nile virus disease occurred in Arizona last summer, over 1,600 cases were reported. Why last year? A wetter-than-average monsoonal season likely contributed to the magnitude of the outbreak. The rise in cases may be a sign of what's to come: As climate change brings more drought and pushes temperatures toward what is termed the 'Goldilocks zone' for mosquitoes, not too hot, not too cold. Most people infected with WNV develop only mild symptoms but some will develop a life-threatening illness that includes inflammation of the spinal cord or brain. Climate change may push the US further toward the 'goldilocks' temperature for west nile virus. Welcome to 'MOSQUITO COAST'

SUSAN BELZER, vice president of Diagnostics at MD Biosciences, demonstrated the technique that will be used to test for Zika virus when samples of blood or urine arrive at the lab for evaluation. West Nile belongs to the same genus that contains the Zika.
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SUSAN BELZER, vice president of Diagnostics at MD Biosciences, held samples of the Zika virus used by scientists at the firm to develop a test for the virus. Though West Nile belongs to the same genus that contains the Zika, dengue and yellow fever viruses, most people who are infected develop no symptoms.
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It's peak mosquito season in the Treasure Valley. West Nile virus detection in mosquitoes hit an all-time high in Ada County, Idaho in 2021.
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Vector Ecologist KIRK JOHNSON set up a ''gravid traps'' to catch pregnant or gravid mosquitoes next to a drainage culvert in Lauderdale. Johnson has been helping protect the metro area from mosquitoes for more than two decades. He sets traps, he surveils wetlands and, every Monday night, he joins a network of volunteers who make themselves into mosquito bait to collect ''samples'' (ie, bloodsuckers).
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A 'Culex Pipien' mosquito specimen in the insect collection at the Field Museum shows the type of mosquito that carries the West Nile virus.
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An entomologist works at the Northwest Mosquito Abatement District in Illinois. The department warned local residents that West Nile Virus still exists. We have amongst the highest West Nile Virus incidents in the Midwest,'' Assistant Director and Entomologist Patrick Irwin said.
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ALAN GETTMAN, mosquito abatement coordinator with the state Department of Environmental Management, points out a small light that lures mosquitoes close enough to be sucked into a trap. He and his team have been trapping mosquitoes to track the spread of EEE, a rare disease caused by a virus spread by infected mosquitoes.
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Florida International University's MATTHEW DEGANNARO holds his arm in a test to watch the mosquitos attraction to the human scent in his research to help combat the Zika virus that is transmitted by the mosquito.
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A mosquito takes a bite from its host, the West Nile virus can be transmitted by mosquitoes.
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A contractor for the Miami-Dade County Department of Solid Waste Management (DSWM) conducts mosquito control aerial spraying over Wynwood and the surrounding areas in order combat the spread of mosquito borne Zika. West Nile belongs to the same genus that contains the Zika.
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ZACH MARKS, of Seminole, uses a mister-blower to distribute a cocktail of insecticides at a Dunedin property while abating mosquitoes with 'Mosquito Joe' of Tampa Bay in Dunedin. The Florida Department of Health in Hillsborough County issued an advisory after confirming a local human case of the West Nile virus.
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Tracy Towle Humphery's 4-year-old son, COLTON, walks by a propane fueled Mosquito Magnet machine that she and her husband purchased to help keep mosquitos away.
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Assistant Chief of Field Operations and GIS Supervisor at Northwest Mosquito Abatement District DAN BARTLETT checks a water sample for mosquito larvae, near the Deer Grove East forest preserve in Illinois. Mosquitoes have been coming out in droves in the area after recent heavy rains, and abatement crews are working to track the increase in insects and monitor for West Nile virus.
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MICHAEL SANDERS, an environmental specialist for the city of Dallas, held a jar of mosquitoes he collected the day before. The captured mosquitoes will be tested for West Nile virus.
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'Culex Pipiens' species of mosquito, the carrier of the West Nile Virus, at the University of Notre Dame.
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LED street lights illuminate traffic on Lake Shore Drive near North Avenue Beach in Chicago. Light pollution can extend by 41 percent how long sparrows are infectious with West Nile virus, which could make it more likely that they transmit the lethal disease to mosquitoes and on to people, a new Florida study has found.
© Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune/TNS via ZUMA Wire