Tips to keep in mind this mosquito season

EL PASO, Texas -- You may have already seen them, or even have been bit by them: monsoon season means more mosquitos.

"Mosquitoes love to be in a damp or wet place and so monsoon season is the perfect time for them to start breeding and being around us and that's how we get bitten," said Dr. Sarah Watkins with Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center of El Paso.

Mosquitos in our region can carry diseases like West Nile Virus or Zika, and in some cases can cause severe illness or death.

"80% of people who get infected with this virus are actually going to be asymptomatic, so they won't even know that they have it. But the bummer is that 20% of people will have symptoms," Watkins said.

Some symptoms to look out for include headache, body aches, joint pains, vomiting, diarrhea, or rash.

"But the thing that we really worry about is much more rare (is) people that can come down with meningitis or encephalitis. So these are severe infections of the brain or the tissue around the brain, and that can be deadly," Watkins said.

Symptoms include fever, headache, neck pain, and "sometimes even confusion or a change in their level of consciousness."

So far this year there have been no reported cases of West Nile, but last year El Paso had several cases including two deaths.

Local health experts suggest the best way to prevent getting bit is by covering up your arms and legs as best you can, wearing loose light fitted clothing, buying an EPA regulated bug spray, and staying inside during peak hours for the pesky bugs which is usually from dusk til dawn. 

For more tips, click here.