This Dangerous Animal Should be Leaving Massachusetts Soon

Massachusetts has been enjoying summerlike weather for a majority of October. With temperatures in the 60s and 70s, people have been enjoying the outdoors including walking, biking, running, and getting yard work duties completed. It's been a while since we have seen an autumn that has been this warm.

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One Dangerous Pest is Still Lurking Around in Massachusetts

With the unusually warm weather we have been experiencing, I have noticed mosquitoes aren't completely gone. When I mow the lawn, those pests still try to get around me. It shouldn't be a surprise since it has been very mild.

Mosquitoes Can Cause a Host of Dangerous Diseases

In addition to being pests, mosquitoes are dangerous to your health because they can cause many diseases including the following as noted by Pfizer:

• Malaria (symptoms  include fever, headache, and chills that start 10 to 15 days after being bitten; some types of malaria can be fatal)

• West Nile virus (symptoms like fever, headache, neck stiffness, tremors, convulsions, and muscle weakness, but up to 80% of people who have the disease experience no symptoms at all. The disease can be deadly)

• Dengue Fever (Dengue typically causes mild illness, and treatments are focused on alleviating the symptoms. In severe cases, however, dengue is sometimes referred as “break bone fever” because it can cause intense headache, muscle and joint pain, high fevers, nausea, fatigue, severe abdominal pain, vomiting, and sometimes death)

• Zika virus (This virus is often asymptomatic but can cause muscle and joint pain, headache, fever, rash and conjunctivitis. Those who are bitten by an infected mosquito during pregnancy have a risk of miscarriage and preterm birth; babies may also be born with congenital malformations such as microcephaly (smaller than normal head size).

• Yellow Fever (Aedes and Haemogogus mosquito species are the main carriers, and a bite from an infected female can lead to symptoms such as headache, fever, muscle pain, and nausea. The disease got its name because the infection can cause jaundice, which causes the skin and whites of the eyes to have a yellow tinge).

When Will Mosquitos Become Dormant in Massachusetts?

Since the weather has been unseasonally warm mosquitoes have been able to stay active in Massachusetts. However, when the temperature consistently drops below 50 degrees the mosquitoes should finally be out of your hair until May of next year. For this reason, hopefully, November will cool off a bit to keep these pests away. Whether you live in Boston, Worcester, Springfield, or anywhere in Massachusetts you probably won't have to deal with mosquitoes much longer but until then make sure you keep your skin covered when you're outside and use repellent with DEET.