In early July, Hurricane Beryl swept through Texas, causing major wind-related damage and flooding across the state. But now, another ripple effect of the hurricane is threatening residents: mosquitoes.
What's happening?
Because mosquitoes lay eggs in stagnant water — as well as in soft mud, grass, and soil — the aftermath of the hurricane has created an ideal reproductive environment.
As a result, Houston Public Media reported, the mosquito population in the area has exploded. And unfortunately, with mosquitoes comes disease. Max Vigilant with Harris County Public Health said that, while his team has been spraying the area diligently, they still found 400 sample pools of mosquitoes that tested positive for West Nile virus.
The virus has also found its way to humans. Though prior to Hurricane Beryl, Harris County had yet to report any West Nile cases in 2024, the region had documented seven cases as of July 26, per KHOU.
The county's public health team said that confirmed cases were all in unincorporated areas outside of the city and that no fatalities had been reported.
Why is this concerning?
The health impacts of West Nile can be severe; the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that "about 1 in 5 people who are infected develop a fever and other symptoms, such as headache, body aches, vomiting, diarrhea and rash, and about 1 in 150 develop a serious, sometimes fatal illness."
However, what concerns officials most is less the virus itself and more so the surge in disease-spreading mosquito populations — particularly as they correspond to climate-related weather patterns.
Strong hurricanes such as Beryl are increasing in intensity because of hotter atmospheric temperatures, according to the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions. And with more rain, the opportunities for disease-spreading mosquitoes to breed also increase exponentially.
Southern California has already had pockets of West Nile in Los Angeles as well as dengue and yellow fevers. Nearly every coastal state is threatened by this pattern as temperatures rise and storms intensify.
"As soon as rain comes in and these areas are inundated with water, those mosquitoes pop up," Vigilant said, per HPM. "This is what happens after every flood."
What's being done to curb the mosquito population?
The Houston Health Department and Harris County Public Health emphasized that the best approach is to avoid getting bitten — using insect repellant and long-sleeved clothing — and to minimize areas where mosquitoes can breed, namely stagnant water.
"If a neighborhood really acts together, they can really diminish the number of breeding places," said Porfirio Villarreal, spokesperson for Houston Health. "That translates to less of a population of mosquitoes."
On a broader level, the threat of increasing global temperatures will only continue to rise until larger steps are taken by pollution-producing corporations and governments.
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