SEMO prof expects high mosquito numbers in Missouri

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. (AP) -- A Southeast Missouri State University biology professor says the mosquito population is exploding in flooded parts of the state, but they're not the kind that carry the West Nile virus.

Christina Frazier says the St. Louis County Health Department already is collecting five times as many mosquitoes in traps each night as it normally would.

Frazier says there will be hordes of pest mosquitoes this summer that will bite, but likely won't transmit the virus. She says that's common after a flood.

It doesn't mean Missouri won't have mosquitoes that carry West Nile virus. But Frazier says those mosquitoes are most likely to be found in small puddles in places like old tires, semi-dried up swimming pools and old paint cans.