Luke DeSilva is an outdoor labourer and while working in E.T. Seton park in Toronto, he says he frequently encounters swarms of mosquitoes.
“There’s definitely a huge increase in the population,” DeSilva said.
“You’re trying to stay focused on your job and they’re just getting you a little frustrated and annoying you,” DeSilva said.
Phil Wong, environmental health manager at Welling-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health said the mosquito season starts in the spring; while tracking hasn’t started yet, field crews have also noticed a spike in the insect’s population.
“We are starting our trapping season in the next couple weeks so we will be able to confirm that, once we start trapping, but right now it’s just from folks in the field,” Wong said, adding that shorter, milder winters have allowed more mosquitoes to survive the season.
“Depending on how bad the winter is and how cold it is and how much rain, we will see a direct influence on how many mosquitoes there are,” he said.
Wong said mosquitoes enter Canada from all over the world through imported goods, and can bring viruses with them across the border.
“We call them vectors, because they spread diseases,” Wong said. “The main one we’re concerned about is West Nile virus, and it spreads through a certain species of mosquitoes,” he said.
A study published in the Lancet last year predicted that the rising global mean temperature will increase the climatic suitability of malaria and dengue, particularly in already endemic areas in the African region, the Americas and the Eastern Mediterranean.
The population at risk of both diseases might increase by up to 4.7 billion people by 2070, the 2021 study showed.
As the warmer weather progresses, Wong said there are things people can do to protect themselves from mosquito bites.
“They bite mostly between dusk and dawn,” Wong said.
“So if you can limit your activity outdoors or make sure you’re wearing loose light-colored long-sleeved shirts and pants, that will protect you from getting bit.”
Homeowners are also encouraged to check their windows and screens to ensure mosquitoes stay out of indoor spaces, and to remove standing water, which attracts the insects. Wong said bug sprays are also effective.
“You can use repellants like deet,” he said.
Mosquitoes will be trapped and monitored in the coming weeks and Wong said the spike cannot be confirmed until later this season.
– With Files from Saba Aziz.