John,

I think we can all agree that there is nothing worse than getting eaten alive by mosquitoes when you’re walking the dog or watching your kids at the playground.

But here in the Valley, we’re facing a new problem… because of the terrible flooding this spring, we are now at major risk for a mosquito invasion. Let me tell you why.

In parts of my district we still have lots of standing water left over from the flooding. Think in backyards, sides of the road, farm land etc. Unfortunately, these are perfect breeding grounds for mosquitos. And not just a few, thousands and thousands!

As I was digging into this, I learned that mosquitoes can go from being an egg to being able to bite in as little as 5 days! This isn’t just a nuisance for us, it’s actually a danger to our health because these little bugs can carry diseases like Zika and West Nile Virus.

The last thing my community needs is to have this turn into a public health crisis.

I’ve been working with the EPA to figure out how we can stop this potential invasion and I wanted to pass on their advice: to avoid mosquitoes this summer make sure to clear any standing water out of your yards. It may sound simple, but it’s super important to stopping the spread of disease and hopefully limiting the annoying bites.

I know you’re used to seeing Members of Congress yelling about things that don’t actually help anyone, so I thought I’d share some actually helpful info. Trying to do things differently over here.

Stay cool and away from those mosquitoes,
- Josh