LEETON shire residents should continue to be wary of mosquitoes despite summer being officially over.
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Leeton Shire Council undertakes fortnightly trappings as part of the NSW Arbovirus Surveillance and Vector Monitoring Program.
The trappings are held at at two locations – Farm 347 on Main Road 80 and at an Almond Road property.
Numbers captured have been up and down throughout the season, with Ross River virus also detected on January 23 from mosquitoes captured at Almond Road.
However, council environmental health and building surveyor Dionisio Pantano said it had been a reasonable season.
“Numbers haven’t been too bad,” Mr Pantano said.
“Over the course of the trappings there have been a couple of big jumps in numbers as a result of some of the rain we’ve had.
“There was also a big catch just before Christmas.”
One of the biggest hauls was recorded on February 11 when Farm 347 recorded 2577 mosquitoes and Almond Road 2030.
Mr Pantano said trappings would be continuing beyond the summer months.
“It has been a pretty good summer this year compared to others in the past,” he said.
“We’ll continue with the trappings for a while yet because the weather will stay quite warm.”
A trapping was conducted last week, with 1126 found at the Almod Road site and 846 at Almond Road.
Mr Pantano was hopeful most residents were aware of what to do to avoid being bitten by mosquitoes.
“As mosquitoes can carry viruses it is important people cover up and protect themselves,” Mr Pantano said.
The main objectives of the program are to monitor mosquito vector populations in coastal and inland areas of NSW at risk of arbovirus activity; identify the major pest and vector species for each locality and monitor population fluctuations of the important species.
Meeting these objectives ultimately means council can provide early warning to the community about possible virus outbreaks, as well as provide a better understanding of arboviruses, vectors and environmental conditions.
NSW Health has also warned residents across the state to take extra precautions and protect themselves against mosquitoes during autumn by wearing proper clothing and repellent.
