Been bitten overseas and feeling unwell?
If you were bitten in a tropical country and feel unwell, call Healthline. Health NZ says not to take aspirin, ibuprofen or other anti-inflammatories until you've had medical advice, to rule out dengue fever. At home, call your healthcare provider if you get a rash around a bite or start to feel unwell.
How much of a problem are mosquitoes here?
Mostly a nuisance. Health NZ says 16 mosquito species are established in New Zealand, and none of the ones here now pass diseases on to people. Bites usually go away by themselves after a few days, as long as you can leave them alone.
Te Papa counts 13 native species, most of which mainly bite birds, and three introduced species that do most of the biting on people. One of those, the ankle biting mosquito, is recorded across the entire North Island and north of Timaru Port in the South Island.
The concern is overseas mosquitoes, which can carry dengue fever, malaria, chikungunya and yellow fever. Public health teams and MPI watch the borders for those.
How do you clear the water at your place?
Get rid of what collects it
Tins, jars, bottles, plastic bags and old tyres all hold water. Health NZ also suggests drilling drainage holes in tyre swings.
Do a weekly round
Empty and clean pot plant saucers and animal drinking containers, clear gutters and drains, and empty paddling pools.
Cover what you can't empty
Seal or cover rainwater tanks, and put mosquito-proof covers on septic tank vent pipes.
Deal with low spots
Fill or drain hollows in the ground that stay wet after rain, and stock ornamental ponds with fish that eat larvae.
Store things upside down
Boats, canoes, dinghies and anything else kept outside can hold water, so turn them over.
How do you stop the bites?
Health NZ says mosquitoes are most active in the warmer months, at dawn and dusk. Indoors, it lists screens on windows and doors, a net over the bed, and air conditioning or fans, along with insect sprays and coils.
Outdoors, cover up and use a repellent containing DEET. Keep repellent off wounds, irritated skin, eyes and mouth.
Is it a mosquito or a sandfly?
Location is the clue. Mosquitoes stay near standing water such as swamps, pools, ponds and gutters. Sandflies breed in running water, and Health NZ says they're common near water and humid bush. Both bite around dawn and dusk.
Sandflies aren't something a section treatment fixes, and our fly page says why.
When does a pest business help?
Often it doesn't, and that's worth saying. No treatment beats a bucket of water left in the yard, so do the rounds first.
A pest business earns its keep where the water is hard to reach or can't be emptied, such as a boggy corner or a big section with drains. Health NZ's pest chart lists a larvicide (a product that targets the young in water) on still water, and an outdoor spray on breeding sites. Both need care around ponds, fish, tanks and neighbours' water.
The size of the job depends on the size of the section, how much still water there is, and how much vegetation needs treating. A creek or swamp next door limits what any treatment can do.
What's yours, and what's for a pest business?
You can
- Do the weekly water round.
- Keep gutters clear, and check they drain.
- Fix torn screens on doors and windows.
- Cover the rainwater tank.
Leave to a pest business
- Any product on a pond, drain or other still water.
- Outdoor spraying of shrubs and breeding sites.
- Working out where mosquitoes are breeding on a big section.
What should you ask before saying yes?
- Where do you think they're breeding, and can that be fixed without a treatment?
- Which product will you use, and can I see its safety data sheet?
- What precautions do you suggest around fish, tanks, bees and veggie gardens?
- How long should we expect it to last, and would you need to come back?
Before you ring anyone
We'd do two weekly water rounds first and see what changes. If you're still being bitten at dusk with every saucer and gutter sorted, the source is likely somewhere you can't see. That's when we'd tap Not sure what it is and say what's happening.
Want someone to look at it?
Tell us what you've seen and your postcode, and a local pest business that handles exactly that calls you to talk it through.
