SLIDELL, La. — In many spots, Hurricane Barry created perfect conditions for mosquitoes to breed and multiply. Mosquitoes love hot weather and stagnant water.
Now, mosquito control in many communities is targeting the pests in the aftermath of the storm.
Multiple pools of mosquitoes in St. Tammany parish were infected with West Nile virus prior to Hurricane Barry, according to the St. Tammany Mosquito Abatement District.
The Louisiana Animal disease Diagnostic Lab reported areas with infected mosquitoes in the Tammany Hills area South of Covington, Cane Bayou/Fontainebleau Estates East of Mandeville and the Ben Thomas Rd area of Slidell.
"It alarms us in the sense that we know how serious West Nile can be, but in the same sense its been here for almost 20 years at this point," said Nick Delisi, Entomologist with St. Tammany Mosquito Abatement District.
Mosquitoes are already thriving in these hot summer months and with all the rain brought in this weekend, the problem could get worse.
"Hurricanes are complicated when it comes to mosquitoes," Delisi said.
Delisi explained that some mosquitoes love the rain, but others hate it, including mosquitoes that transmit West Nile.
"Hurricane Barry might have actually in some ways helped our West Nile situation, at least temporarily," he said.
The problem is what Barry left behind, standing water. That makes for a mosquito breeding ground.
"That stagnant water is a large source of the mosquito that transmits West Nile virus," Delisi said.
After the rain, they're noticing a rise in blood sucking bugs.
"Some of our nuisance mosquitoes, the ones that are very annoying, but don't necessarily transmit a lot of diseases, those mosquitoes we're anticipating are going to become a big problem in the next week or two," he said.
That's why mosquito control is spraying daily. St. Tammany sprayed with a helicopter Thursday morning.
New Orleans Mosquito Control scheduled larval mosquito abatement in the area surrounded by Bellaire Drive, I-610, Wisner Boulevard, and Robert E. Lee Boulevard Thursday by truck from 8:30 p.m. to 11 p.m.
You can also protect yourself. Delisi advises people to cover their arms in legs if outside at dusk, wear spray repellent, and make sure your ditch is cleaned out so water can move through it.