mosquito

A mosquito-borne illness originally found in the Tampa Bay area has been confirmed in a human for the first time, according to University of Florida researchers.

Mosquitoes can be carriers for diseases the Florida Department of Health would rather not see this summer. 

Mosquito season has officially arrived in Florida, although many would argue it never left.

That perception may soon become reality, according to new studies that show the higher temperatures brought on by climate change are already increasing the range and biting season for many mosquitoes, including the Aedes aegypti — the infamous carriers of viruses like dengue and Zika, which hit Miami hard enough in 2016 to scare off many tourists.

Imagine this: A pesky mosquito sips some of your blood. Hours later, the blood-sucker drops dead, poisoned by the very blood it just slurped down.

The Lee County Mosquito Control District predicts that a large mosquito outbreak is coming as a result of heavy rain and continued flooding from Hurricane Irma.  Thursday night marked the district’s first aerial spraying to tackle the adult mosquito population since the storm’s passage.

This summer, scientists in California are releasing 20 million mosquitoes in an effort to shrink the population of mosquitoes that can carry diseases.

It sounds counterintuitive. But the plan is to release millions of sterile male mosquitoes, which will then mate with wild female mosquitoes. The eggs the females lay won't hatch, researchers say.

Summer is upon us and that means more of the bugs that made international headlines last year – mosquitos. What progress has been made in the fight against the Zika virus? Can we cure Zika, or prevent it? And what can residents do to help?

As little kids, a lot of us lay awake imagining terrifying monsters that were coming for us. Monsters in our closets who'd spring out and get us if the night light wasn't plugged in. Monsters under our beds that would slither up and eat us if our moms left the room before we fell asleep. Monsters that knew our habits, our vulnerabilities.

At least one person in Duval County has caught West Nile virus from a mosquito, the health department warned Thursday.

In a news release, health officials said they’re concerned more people will become sick, as they’ve seen a recent increase in mosquito-borne disease activity.

Symptoms of West Nile range from fever and headaches to comas and paralysis, according to the CDC.

Zika virus is spreading in South Florida, state health officials confirmed on Tuesday, with reports of a new locally transmitted case in Miami-Dade County — this one outside of the Miami neighborhood where the nation’s 

Federal officials are all but certain there will be a Zika outbreak this summer.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health, explained, “In the next couple of months as we approach the very active mosquito season, we project that we will see local outbreaks of Zika particularly in the Gulf Coast area around Florida Texas and other states.”

"It's up to you," said a 1945 public service announced aimed at Americans. Find "one of man's worst enemies" and "destroy their foxholes."

The video came from the Office of Malaria Control in War Areas (now known as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). And it was talking about a particular species of mosquito, Aedes aegypti — the very same mosquito in the news now. Back then, public health officials were mostly worried about dengue and yellow fevers.