Dr. Barry Engber's job with the state is to keep an eye on mosquitoes for health concerns.
Engber, of the
North Carolina Public Health Pest Management
division, said everyone can help reduce the mosquito population by reducing the places they breed -- like pots under planters and areas with standing water. Mosquito eggs lie in wait for a rain shower to give them life. Within a week, they are hatching and biting.
"We have about 50 plus species in North Carolina and the only ones that are a problem are the ones that bite people. So there is, out of that 50, maybe about a dozen or so that are normal problems to people in the state," Engber said.
Mosquitoes can carry serious diseases, like the West Nile virus. So far this year in North Carolina, the virus has only been found in one bird in Charlotte.
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