WOODLAND — Sacramento-area officials are on the lookout for a type of mosquito capable of spreading dangerous diseases. Its proliferation is so much of a concern that authorities are now asking the public for help spotting it.
David Smith with Sacramento-Yolo Mosquito and Vector Control District walked through the backyard of this Land Park home looking for something specific.
That is mosquito larvae from the Aedes aegypti, or yellow fever mosquitoes. They can carry debilitating diseases like dengue, chikungunya or zika, which can lead to birth defects.
These mosquitoes differ from our native so-called “house mosquitoes.”
“What’s unique about these day-biting mosquitoes, or Aedes aegypti mosquitos, is the way that they breed, the way that they lay their eggs,” Smith said.
They can lay eggs in something as small as a bottle cap and the eggs can survive even without water for six months to a year, making them hard to detect and treat.