Mosquito mayhem? Modesto area neighbors fed up, moving due to bug bite boom
MODESTO -- Neighbors in Empire are at their breaking point and even moving out of their apartment home complex, fed up with being a 24/7 bug buffet.
They say the mosquito problem on Abbie Road has become so bad in recent months, they don't even want to go outside.
"I can't take it. I can't take it anymore," said neighbor Blanca Macias.
Macias won't take her dog for walks or even garden at her home thanks to the relentless bites.
"You can't even go outside to get in your car without them attacking," said Macias. "They try and bite you through your Levi's, they try and bite through anything."
For complex manager Tami Stewart, the problem is hurting business. She says multiple tenants have moved to escape the mosquitoes and she can't fill the vacancies due to these pesky neighbors.
"They're vicious. You can't go outside. It's worse than COVID," said Stewart.
"Does it surprise you that tenants are leaving?" asked CBS13 reporter Ashley Sharp.
"No, it doesn't shock me. It shocks me that I can't go in my backyard," said Stewart.
Stewart and Macias believe the neighboring corn field that lines the back of the complex and its standing water could be to blame for the bug boom a few months back.
"We get bit at night when we are sleeping. That is just crazy," said Macias.
Aside from the constant scratching, it's a health concern. Stanislaus County health leaders in June said they anticipate an active mosquito and mosquito‐borne virus season this year.
"The late rains and increased temperatures will hasten the development of West Nile Virus in the Central Valley," David Heft, of Turlock's Mosquito Abatement District, said in June.
West Nile activity has been reported in Stanislaus County this summer.
In neighboring San Joaquin and Merced counties, human cases have been reported. They're two of just five counties in the entire state of California with people contracting the disease, according to the latest state data.
"I'm very worried about it. I can't afford to be sick or die from a mosquito," said Stewart.
Stewart said she and her dozens of tenants have called the East Side Mosquito Abatement District daily to no avail. They want the county to step in and help spray or remove the corn in the field by next summer to hopefully cut back on the problem.
The East Side Mosquito Abatement District's office closed at 3 p.m. and could not be reached for comment as of the airing of this story Wednesday night.
The board will have a regularly scheduled meeting on September 12. These neighbors say they plan to take their fight to the public comment podium.
