Mosquito control operations will be carried out in 63 settlements across five counties in the coming days, the National Directorate General for Disaster Management, which is responsible for coordinating the programme, told the Hungarian news agency MTI on Monday.
At Lake Balaton, in several settlements along the Drava River, and in Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén County, mosquitoes will be controlled using ground-based chemical treatment. The fine spray will be applied by specialists during the evening and nighttime hours.
Despite the rainfall moving across the country, the weather remains predominantly dry, meaning that no significant, large-scale mosquito breeding sites have developed. Due to low water levels in rivers, floodplains are also dry, preventing suitable habitats from forming for mosquito larvae.
The number of mosquitoes developing in smaller forest breeding sites has reached levels requiring control measures at only a few locations.
However, the few millimetres of rain that fell in recent days are favourable for the further spread of invasive mosquito species. These mosquitoes primarily breed in small pools of standing water around homes, and even a small amount of rainfall—or just a few decilitres of water left behind after watering plants—can be enough for them to reproduce.
(MTI)
