Tag Archives: mosquitoes

Our West Nile summer

Posted on July 31, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Lots of rain = lots of mosquitoes. Local health authorities worry the post-Beryl explosion of the blood-sucking insects could become more than a nuisance, raising the risk of infections of West Nile and other mosquito-borne illnesses. At least 496 mosquito … Continue reading →

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Climate change is bad for mosquitoes

Posted on July 12, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

I think we all can have mixed feelings about this. Houston may be getting too hot even for mosquitoes, whose bites can be both annoying and dangerous, according to a new analysis of daily temperature and humidity in 242 locations … Continue reading →

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Malaria

Posted on July 8, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Time for something new to worry about. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is warning doctors and public health officials about a handful of locally acquired cases of malaria. There hasn’t been a case of malaria caught locally … Continue reading →

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Mutant mosquito update

Posted on September 12, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Keeping you informed on the news you can really use. Four years ago, the Zika virus became an issue. More than 300 people were infected in Texas. Zika can cause birth defects and fetal neurodevelopmental abnormalities in pregnant women. The … Continue reading →

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Good luck avoiding mosquitoes

Posted on September 8, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

You can’t stop them, you can only hope to contain them. Living in an area with so many mosquitoes means local officials can’t just ignore them, right? Harris County tries to lower the number of bugs both by spraying and … Continue reading →

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New fronts in the war on mosquitoes

Posted on June 2, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Science marches on. In the center of Anita Schiller’s dragonfly-ring-clad hand, a dragonfly nymph is scooting around. The dedicated naturalist and entomologist is explaining how the insect (which is a water-dwelling dragonfly with gills before it grows wings) expels water … Continue reading →

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The mosquitopocalypse is coming

Posted on September 4, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

It just keeps getting better and better. Harvey’s rain may have left Houston behind, but there’s another storm headed our way. It’s a cloud of mosquitoes, which breed in standing water and soon will be hatching by the millions. “It’s … Continue reading →

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Let’s use mutant mosquitoes to fight Zika

Posted on March 25, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

What could possibly go wrong? The Bayou City’s teeming mosquito population spawns in dark, wet nooks and carries a slew of deadly tropical diseases that could ravage the region. So Houston is pondering a sneak attack, something akin to a … Continue reading →

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Still asking for Zika help

Posted on August 4, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

From the inbox: Following reports of the first local mosquito-borne Zika infections in the U.S., Mayor Sylvester Turner is once again calling on the state of Texas and federal government to provide financial assistance to help fight it. “There are … Continue reading →

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First baby affected by Zika born in Texas

Posted on July 16, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Won’t be the last, unfortunately. A baby boy born with microcephaly in Harris County is the first Zika-affected infant in Texas, the Texas Department of State Health Services announced Wednesday. The baby’s mother contracted Zika in Colombia, and the baby … Continue reading →

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Building a better mosquito trap

Posted on July 8, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

I love this story. Harris County officials are teaming up with tech-giant Microsoft to find and research mosquitoes that could carry the Zika virus or other mosquito-borne diseases, the county public health department said Tuesday. As part of “Project Premonition,” … Continue reading →

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Mayor Turner asks for Zika help

Posted on June 11, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

From the inbox. With members of the local legislative delegation at his side and an illegal tire dump as the backdrop, Mayor Sylvester Turner called on the state of Texas to declare the Zika virus a public health emergency and … Continue reading →

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Don’t let the mosquitoes bite

Posted on April 30, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

That’s going to be a challenge. Mosquitoes don’t breed in flood waters. They drown in them, said Dr. Mustapha Debboun, director of the Mosquito Control Division at Harris County Public Health and Environmental Services. But it’s after the flood waters … Continue reading →

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Take the mosquito threat seriously

Posted on June 13, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

If mosquitoes weren’t one of the Biblical plagues visited on Egypt, they should have been. You’ve probably heard of the potentially deadly West Nile virus, but this summer, people in the Houston area could begin to be at more risk … Continue reading →

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Time to stock up on mosquito repellent

Posted on June 4, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

I feel itchy already. It is on, mosquitoes. This sopping spring guarantees Houstonians will have to be more vigilant against the pests than ever. The mosquito kills about 1 million humans a year, chiefly from malaria, making it by far … Continue reading →

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It’s what comes after the rain that’ll get you

Posted on July 21, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

All that rain we got was great and badly needed to finally kill off last year’s drought. But we know what comes next. In the last three weeks, Harris County has confirmed three cases of this potentially deadly disease in … Continue reading →

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Skeeter season

Posted on May 31, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Not the minor league baseball team, the kind we all hate. Despite dire predictions of an even worse-than-usual mosquito invasion this spring, the swarm of activity actually thinned out in May, after two out-of-control months buoyed by rain and unseasonably … Continue reading →

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Less drought, more mosquitos

Posted on March 7, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Tough choice, isn’t it? This story is about the prospects in Central Texas for rain and the buzzing vermin we all hate, but it could just as easily be written for Houston or any other part of the state. This … Continue reading →

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We’ll always have skeeters

Posted on January 11, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Wait, so all this arctic weather doesn’t mean a reduction in the mosquito population? So what’s the point of it, then? “The freeze is going to kill some of the population, but it’s not going to wipe out everything,” said … Continue reading →

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