A press statement from Santa Clara County on Thursday said that an invasive species of mosquito had been found in a fourth place in San Jose.
The Aedes aegypti mosquito is not native to the area and is known for biting very hard during the day. It can also spread a number of diseases. In Santa Clara County, the mosquito has been found in six different places. This time, it was found in San Jose near Cortez Avenue and Orlando Drive.
“The threat from Aedes aegypti is growing, and we need everyone to help us stop this day-biting mosquito from settling in Santa Clara County,” said Edgar Nolasco, who is in charge of the County of Santa Clara Customer and Environmental Protection Agency.
For the sake of public health, we need people and businesses to look at their properties for places where water can pool and get rid of them.
Also, people who live in places where this invasive mosquito has been found need to work with district wokers and let them check out their homes.
The mosquito is about a quarter of an inch long, and its back and legs have black and white lines that make them easy to spot. They only eat people and never fly more than 500 feet from where they were born.
This mosquito has been seen in six places in San Jose. These include South San Jose, Santa Clara, Gilroy, and East San Jose, as well as near Oak Hill Funeral Home and Memorial Park and Cortez Avenue and Orlando Drive. County officials said that warmer temperatures caused by climate change were making mosquitoes more active.
The government said that there are persistent numbers of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes in 19 California counties, mostly in the Central Valley and Southern California.
In four Bay Area counties, however, mosquitoes have been seen but not proven to be present.
Officials in the county said that the mosquito can spread diseases like yellow fever, dengue, chikungunya, and Zika. In 2024, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health found 12 cases of dengue that were contracted in the county.
Aedes aegypti mosquitoes don’t need a lot of water to lay their eggs. They usually do it just above the water line in small man-made water sources like buckets, pet dishes, fountains and bird baths, plant pots and pans, and old tires. The eggs can also live for more than a year if they are kept dry.
In order to keep the invasive mosquitoes from becoming a lasting problem, the county traps adult mosquitoes, checks properties for mosquito larvae and their homes, and uses pesticides on any larvae it finds.
The county said they would soon use wide-area larvicide spraying, which is done with truck-mounted equipment, to treat the area around Cortez Avenue and Orlando Drive.
If needed, they would also use treatments to get rid of adult mosquitoes. The county has sprayed chemicals in areas where mosquitoes that might carry the West Nile virus have been found in the past.
County officials told people to stay safe from mosquito bites by using bug spray, wearing long-sleeved shirts, pants, socks, and shoes during the day, when mosquitoes are most active, and making sure their window and door screens are in good shape.
They also said to properly screen rain barrels, cisterns, and irrigation drains so mosquitoes couldn’t get in.
They also said to fix leaky faucets and broken sprinkler heads, not water lawns and plants too much, dump out any standing water, and make sure swimming pool water levels allow for proper circulation and filtration.
People were also told to use hot soapy water or bleach to clean and scrub any objects to get rid of any Aedes aegypti eggs and let them dry for at least a day.
As county officials go from neighborhood to neighborhood to treat mosquitoes, they told people that if they want staff to check and treat their properties, they should let them.
They also told people to report mosquitoes that bite during the day to the Vector Control District at 408-918-4770 or vectorinfo@cep.sccgov.org.
The county Vector Control District will also hold a meeting for the public on Monday, November 18, at 6:30 p.m. in San Jose. The meeting will take place in the gathering room of Anthony Dorsa Elementary School, which is located at 1290 Bal Harbor Way.
