Mosquito-Proof Your Home

What Can I Do?
West Nile Virus is a disease that is spread by infected mosquitoes. So the best defense against the West Nile Virus is not giving them a place to breed.

Here are some things you can do around your home.

• Dispose of tin cans, plastic containers, ceramic
  pots or similar water-holding containers that have
  collected on your property.
  
• Pay special attention to discarded tires. Stagnant water in tires are where many mosquitoes breed.
  
• Drill holes in the bottom of recycling containers left outdoors.
  
• Have clogged roof gutters cleaned every year, particularly if the leaves from surrounding trees have
  a tendency to plug up the drains. Roof gutters can produce millions of mosquitoes each season.
  
• Turn over plastic wading pools when not in use. Stagnant water in a wading pool becomes a place
  for mosquitoes to breed.
  
• Turn over wheelbarrows and don't let water stagnate in birdbaths. Both provide breeding habitats for domestic mosquitoes.
  
• Aerate ornamental pools or stock them with fish. Water gardens can become major mosquito producers if they are allowed to stagnate.
  
• Clean and chlorinate swimming pools not in use. Smaller containers will produce many more mosquitoes than a pool will, therefore being diligent about the small breeding sites around your house will be most effective. Mosquitoes may even breed in the water that collects on pool covers.
  
• Use landscaping to eliminate standing water that collects on your property. Mosquitoes may breed in any puddle that lasts for more than four days.