West Fargo, N.D. – So far this year, Cass County is seeing a relatively small mosquito population thanks in part to dry conditions, and work done back in May to kill larvae in standing water, ditches and fields.
“Things are holding pretty steady,” Ben Prather with Cass County Vector Control told The Steve Hallstrom Show on The Flag.
After temperatures reached 90 degrees or above during a stretch of May, Prather says the weather has since turned mostly cool.
The area also saw up to 3 inches of rain over the course of two days in late May, as crews went to work to get ahead of the game.
“We had a good run at controlling and killing a lot of mosquito larva before they became a problem,” said Prather.
‘We were expecting a little bit of a spike in adult-biting mosquitos and we saw that, but it’s nothing at this point that would require us to do any ground or aerial spraying.”
Listen: Cass County Vector Control executive director Ben Prather on The Steve Hallstrom Show
That said, Prather does acknowledge mosquitoes are popping up in Minnesota lake country.
“Otter Tail County is definitely starting to see some of those cattail mosquitos, and those once-a-year type of bugs that are starting to be a bit of a challenge [for them].”
As far as the Fargo-Moorhead area, mostly “atypical” dry conditions seem to be playing a big role in keeping the bug numbers “stable and low.”
“Having these [light rain periods] don’t really move the needle much, compounded with abnormally dry conditions for the past few years,” said Prather. “It helps up maintain control and keeps things in a good spot.”
Aerial praying wasn’t required at all in Cass County during 2021 and 2022. It was conducted once in 2023, and twice in 2024, which is far cry from past action.
“In the early 2000’s, we would spray two times a week,” said Prather. “That was a result of being in a wet period that lingered from the 1990’s.”
But despite the low population, cases of mosquito-borne disease have popped up early in North Dakota.
Burleigh County had a case of West Nile Virus in June.
“We still have work to do,” said Prather. “We’re still going to try to cover as many bases as we can and keep people not only comfortable but safe as well.”
