Bergen County wants you to curb spike in West Nile mosquitoes. See how

With the height of mosquito season upon us, Bergen County has been monitoring levels of mosquito populations that are testing positive for the West Nile virus and asking residents to help combat the growing threat.

"Right now is when the virus starts to really pick up," said Matt Bickerton, Bergen County's entomologist. "Our mosquito population in Bergen County has some of the highest numbers of the West Nile virus. It's really a hot spot right now."

The increase in wet weather has led to an increase in the mosquito population. Bergen County has many catch basins and stormwater structures that can produce standing water where mosquitoes can develop, Bickerton said.

"We are doing a lot of control operations right now around the county to prevent human infection," he said.

So far, there has been no confirmed human positive test result for the West Nile virus, but Bickerton said this is usually the point of the summer when that begins to happen.

Mild symptoms of West Nile virus are "flu-like and may include fever, headache, body aches and sometimes a rash. Severe symptoms can include high fever, stiff neck and swelling of the brain," says the New Jersey Health Department.

Mosquitoes can breed in less than a half-inch of water. The county is asking that residents be vigilant about any standing water outside their home, including in places they may not think of, such as children's toys, gardening equipment and tarps.

Right now, the "biggest nuisance" in the county is the invasive Asian tiger mosquito species.

"They're kind of small, black-and-white and real pesky little mosquitoes," Bickerton said. "They are producing and laying eggs in anything that has just a little water in it."

Bickerton said that after any rain that falls, it's important for people to do a check around their homes to make sure there is no standing water, no matter how small.

"It's been raining a little every couple of days, so we really need people to go through their yards diligently a couple of times a week and dump out the water," he said.

Bickerton said another issue mosquito controls are facing this year is combating a viral social media mosquito tactic called "the bucket of doom."

The idea is to get a bucket of water and purchase a "dunk," or a tablet often made of specific bacteria that can kill mosquitoes.

"The problem with that is it only lasts about 30 days, and it's the worst idea ever, because people are people," Bickerton said. "If you forget to replace the dunk in so many days, you're now going to have a mosquito habitat that can produce thousands and thousands of mosquitoes in weeks."

Internally, the county mosquito operation is surveillance-driven, along with spraying, testing and tracking data.

There are about 5,000 inspection and trap sites around the county that lead to testing mosquitoes and prevention. With that information, the county can see where there is an increase in population and test for any diseases.

Bergen County is one of the few in the state that can test their own samples and get real-time data instead of waiting.

To help with prevention, there's a focus on removing debris and any river or stream blockage that can create pools of standing water. If a drain is blocked, it prevents flowing and can create a mosquito habitat, Bickerton said.

The county also takes requests from homeowners for the mosquito control to provide a free inspection to see if improvements can be made. The service is free, and residents need to fill out a form on the county website for the Office of Mosquito & Vector Control.

The data collected is also used to help the county with the mosquito truck spray schedule, which Bickerton said is constantly changing with more locations being added.

Bickerton said there are areas in the county, such as the Meadowlands near MetLife Stadium, that can be treated only by helicopter.

The Meadowlands was a huge prevention area during the World Cup to make sure there were no mosquitoes in the area during the games, Bickerton said.

"We did a lot of surveillance around the stadium, since there were so many international travelers," Bickerton said. "The idea was we didn't know if any of the travelers were infected with something and could it be transmittable by mosquitos. Fortunately, that part of summer was dry, so there weren't a lot of mosquitoes yet."

For decades, a helicopter service would be hired to treat the large, inaccessible bodies of water around the county.

But that is starting to change. The county now has a large drone and is working on replacing the helicopter treatments with a mosquito control drone system. Officials also are working on other technology and regulations that Bickerton said they hope will be operational in the near future.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Bergen County wants you to curb spike in West Nile mosquitoes. See how