Are all wetlands breeding grounds for arboviruses?
A. No. The few potential WNV vector species primarily breed in two types of areas: stagnant water and high elevation salt marsh pools. The stagnant water areas can be found in artificial containers such as bird baths, tires, buckets, kiddy pools, stormwater and catch basins, drainage ditches, etc. where water may not be regularly exchanged and becomes stagnant. Many of these structures can be emptied regularly to eliminate mosquito breeding conditions. High elevation salt marsh pools are located above the normal high tide line in marine areas. These areas are typically only flooded during significant storms or other extremely high tide events, often only once per month. Some of them contain fish that will act as natural predators, keeping the mosquitoes from surviving and breeding. However, the pools without fish provide good mosquito breeding habitat. The mosquito primarily responsible for maintaining EEE in nature rarely feeds on humans, but is important because it infects birds, whi
