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Cooler Weather Means Fewer Mosquitoes

SANTA CLARA, Calif. (KCBS) _ The cloudy, chilly summer weather has a lot of people down and in a foul mood.

But, it turns out the cooler than normal temperatures are actually helping take a bite out of the mosquito population in the Bay Area.

"The record cool weather that we have right now is actually helping to keep the West Nile Virus activity below transmission levels," said Deborah Bass with the Contra Costa Vector Control District.

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Bass said that when the evening temperatures fluctuate below 55 degrees, the West Nile slows or even stops replicating itself within mosquitoes.

Things are also cooling off in Santa Clara County.

Russ Parman, spokesman for the Santa Clara County Vector Control District said he is grateful because they saw a spike in West Nile mosquitoes earlier in the summer.

He said they've also seen a jump in the number of green backyard swimming pools.

"We did see an increase in pool density," said Parman. "The number of pools we discovered was rather high this year and that goes along with just the general economic state of the times."

Parman said people should report mosquito breeding grounds to Vector Control.

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