Muggy weather brings rise in mosquito population and concerns

The weather has been pretty muggy over the past few days and that means the bugs are coming out. 22 News reporter Kiara Smith now has how you can protect yourself and your yard from mosquitos moving forward. Brian, I spoke with Bob Russell from American Pest Solutions and he says as the warm and rainy weather conditions continue, people will start to see more and more mosquitos. You get to this time of the year, humidity is high, we have some pretty significant thunderstorms and you get accumulating water on the ground in other areas. And when you've got standing water for seven days, that's the complete development of mosquitos. Seven days standing water, 70 degrees. While the weather continues to be warm and humid, people are starting to see a lot more mosquitos. Lennox Hamilton from Springfield says it's hard to avoid mosquitos during his workouts at Forest Park. Definitely on my time out here, coming to work out. Been a little bit of a hassle, try not to let them bother me too much. But I mean, mosquitos are mosquitos, they're going to do what they do. And now that more mosquitos are out, people are at risk of mosquito-borne diseases like Zika virus, West Nile virus and malaria. The CDC recommends that people wear long-sleeved shirts, long pants and use insect repellent to avoid mosquito-borne diseases. Hamilton says he tries not to worry too much about mosquitos. Definitely a worry I have, but I mean, try not to give it too much energy. Oftentimes, the more you worry about things, it kind of leads to negative situations. And as far as protecting your yard from mosquitos, American Pest Solution says people need to get rid of standing water around their home, check the gutters and use deep mosquito repellent products that has a concentration under 25 percent. Working for you live in the studio, Kiara Smith, 22 News.