State Mosquito Control Efforts Appear to be Working [AUDIO]

There's no sign of the West Nile Virus and nothing out of the ordinary when it comes to the state's mosquito control efforts.

State Epidemiologist Doctor Tina Tan describes routine surveillance and activities to decrease the number of areas where mosquitoes breed in New Jersey.

Dr. Tan says they're working very closely with their Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) partners to continually identify areas where there's increased mosquito and West Nile Virus (WNV) activity.

"A lot of efforts that the County Mosquito Control Commissions are doing are going out there and doing surveillance, they're taking samples of mosquito pools and they're testing them for things like West Nile Virus and other vector-borne disease. In addition, they're taking a lot of steps to decrease the egg burden as well as doing some efforts to also decrease the habitats where the mosquitoes can breed," Tan explained.

She says while mosquito activity is picking up, no dead Crows or Blue Jays have been turned in, which has commonly been a tell tale detector of WNV activity.

However, we're not out of the woods yet. Tan says they are seeing mosquito activity pick up and advises residents to take precautions to keep from being bitten.

"By trying to make sure that they avoid being outside when mosquitoes are most predominant, like such as during dusk and dawn and if they're gonna be outside, to make sure they wear things like insect repellent."

Tan also advises residents to survey homes to seal off areas where mosquitoes from entering.

She also says residents can also help by trying to eliminate spots where mosquitoes can grow, "such as stagnant water areas, making sure that they clean out their gutters, emptying bird baths and the like."