Louisiana Braces for Post-Katrina Mosquito Boom

DETROIT —Scientists believe that post-Katrina Louisiana faces a potential scourge of mosquitoes as insects hatch in storm-created breeding grounds, Reuters reports.

The expected surge in the mosquito population this summer around New Orleans raises worries about the risk of an accompanying increase in cases of the mosquito-borne West Nile virus, public health officials said.

"The mosquitoes have just taken off," said Janet McAllister, an entomologist with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In New Orleans, officials are trying to combat an influx of salt-marsh mosquitoes in thousands of abandoned and damaged swimming pools in the city's backyards through an improvised program of "pool patrols," McAllister said.

The problem has been compounded by the relatively warm winter in New Orleans, said McAllister, a native of New Orleans who worked in the city's insect control program before joining the CDC.

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