Mosquito fight begins

NAMPA (AP) - The battle against mosquitoes started a month early in southwest Idaho's Canyon County because this year's flooding at the edge of Lake Lowell has produced prime real estate for an infestation.

The high water levels were caused by irrigation in anticipation of a dry summer, KIVI-TV reported. The shallow, shaded, food-filled water provides mosquitoes with the perfect environment to reproduce.

"That water is not very clean," said Ed Burnett of the Canyon County Abatement District. "It picks up a lot of the organic material."

Officials are using bacterial poison while the water is still too cold for the larvae to turn into adults and take flight, he said.

"The bacteria, when it's on the water, disperses and larvae pick it up, and it acts kind of like a stomach poison," Burnett said. "Then it dissipates and it's gone - usually within 72 hours."

About 15 square miles of marshland have been created with the high water where the mosquitoes reproduce, he said. If the overnight lows warm up, that will increase the water temperature, possibly enough for mosquitoes to make the transition from larvae to adults and take flight, Burnett said.

If they start emerging as adults, that increases the chances of the West Nile virus developing in the region, Burnett said. Migratory birds bring the disease, and the mosquitoes feed on the birds during the day, he said.