Mosquito population is sky-high in St. Johns County | News

ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. -- The mosquito population has exploded in St. Johns County.

"There are about five times the amount they were last year," Jodi Scott with Anastasia Mosquito Control said.

She knows that because her co-workers set mosquito traps throughout the county.

Every week, the mosquitoes caught in the traps are counted.

Last August, traps caught about 2,700 mosquitoes.

This August, Scott said, the number is more than 12,200 of those biting bugs.

You can blame it on all the rain.

"We've had a lot of rainfall. A lot of standing water in areas due to rainfall," Scott said.

But even with all the mosquitoes, St. Johns County has had no human cases of West Nile Virus this year, while neighboring Duval County has had 15 cases.

Scott said it may be because Duval has more people and "it could be temperature based. Florida has pockets of temperatures in different areas. So if they have a perfect storm for mosquitoes, they're going to have more viruses."

St. Johns County is spraying, but spraying can only do so much.

You can help fight mosquitoes by dumping water out of pots and containers. Also, wear long sleeves and use bug repellant.