From KHOU11
May 15, 2018
HARRIS COUNTY, Texas – Now that the warm weather is here, Harris County officials say the perfect breeding conditions for mosquitos have arrived.
Harris County is home to 56 different kinds of mosquitoes.
At a press conference, the Harris County Office of Emergency Management showed off new technology and traps they’re using. They’ve placed nearly 500 traps at 268 sites around the county.
The county is continuing to partner with Microsoft research, using high-tech traps that can determine with infrared technology, when a a Zika mosquito has been caught or a West Nile mosquito has been caught, based on the flap of its wing. These traps can also determine the precise time the mosquitoes have been captured in the traps.
There is also a new interactive Mobile Mosquito and Vector Control Unit, which will help inform the community about mosquito born illnesses, such as Zika and West Nile virus. Dr. Umair Shah with the Harris County Health Department says the mosquitoes that carry the Zika virus bite during the day. The mosquitoes that carry West Nile are considered nighttime mosquitoes.