In the last 10 years the Asian Tiger mosquito population has doubled in York County and it’s the only kind of mosquito that, if you get bit, can give you the Chikungunya virus. “You’ll see symptoms within three to seven days and you’ll have fever. You’ll have joint pains, pains in your hands and feet” said Pennsylvania Department of Health official Wes Culp.
The increase in the mosquito population isn’t a major cause for concern because they’re not carrying the virus, but the amount of people that are is going up. In the last ten years there have been just two cases of Pennsylvanians leaving the country and coming back with Chikungunya. This year alone there have been twelve, which is cause for concern because the Asian Tiger is just like any other mosquito: a blood sucker. “an Asian Tiger mosquito would have to bite that person that’s infected and then bite someone else” said Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection spokesman Matt Helwig.
So far that hasn’t happened and officials want to keep it that way, which is why the DEP has been using a spray that kills their larvae, and it’s working. “We have seen an eighty five percent reduction in their mosquito population” said Helwig.
WATCH THE VIDEO AND SEE WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF THERE’S AN OUTBREAK OF CHIKUNGUNYA.