Mosquito larviciding programs in the area are underway. Last year, the communities of Winkler, Morden and Altona did not have to fog against mosquitoes.

Altona Public Works Manager, Clint Derksen, said the town has four mosquito traps, one in each corner of the community.

"They basically draw the mosquitoes in, and every day there's a little tray they collect, and they count how many female mosquitoes are in those trays, and it goes into a Manitoba database and gets entered with soil conditions, precipitation... temperatures we've had recently, and it calculates your probably of emergence," said Derksen.

The database comes up with a number, and if that number reaches 13, the Town of Altona is allowed to fog. Derksen said right now they're at a 7, but the count will go up with rain.

Derksen added there could be savings in labour and chemical if Altona doesn't require fogging. The town purchased $10,000 dollars of chemical, which allows for 3 rounds of fogging. Fogging the Town of Altona takes around 4-5 hours, said Derksen.

Rick Denison is the Winkler Director of Parks and Recreation.

He said in Winkler they begin larvae surveillance during snow melt. This spring required minimal surveillance due to the dry weather, but efforts have been ramped up since the rainfall.

Denison said they never expect to fog, and it's considered a last resort. Their primary method of mosquito control is through education and larviciding.

Last year the required fogging chemical changed from Malathion to Deltagard, which is more environmentally friendly, but more expensive. Denison estimates that one fogging application would cost approximately $10,000 dollars.

The City of Morden Parks Manager Shawn Dias also gave an update on the city's mosquito control efforts.

"We have partnered up with the province, Manitoba Health, for our West-Nile larviciding program so that has started," said Diaz. "So that's ongoing as we get rainfall events, checking standing water and treating as necessary."

The city has two traps for counting adult mosquitoes and makes sure to keep grass short by mowing often.

Dias said he can't predict whether they'll have to fog this year.

"We had relatively dry soil conditions so those nuisance mosquitoes that come out earlier in the season, they like the cool-wet, and then from my understand the Culex tarsalis mosquitoes actually like hot-dry, so we may very well see low number of mosquitoes but we could see a high occurrence of the Culex."

The public is encouraged to keep private property free of habitats for mosquitoes by reducing standing water that may collect in backyards, including pools from over-irrigation, old tires, children's toys, pet bowls, wading pools, stagnant ponds, bird baths, or in flower pots.

Residents are also encouraged to protect themselves from mosquitoes by taking the following measures:
- Using an appropriate mosquito repellent
- Reducing the amount of time spent outdoors between dusk and dawn; the peak mosquito hours are around dusk and dawn but Culex tarsalis mosquitoes will also bite during the night, or on cloudy, overcast days
- Wearing loose fitting, light coloured, long sleeved tops and long pants when outdoors
- Making sure that door and window screens fit tightly and are free of holes