If you spend any time at all outdoors, you know what it is like to battle mosquitos and ticks. These two pests are as prevalent in your backyard as they are in the woods and meadows. Some people think of mosquitos as simply annoying, but you should know that mosquitos carry disease; more than a million people a year die of diseases carried by mosquitos, which include:
• Malaria
• West Nile Virus
• Yellow Fever
• Dengue
• Encephalitis
Obviously, it is in your best interest to do everything you can to control the mosquito population in your backyard. The same is true for ticks; a pest that is not harmless by any means. Ticks carry many diseases, including Lyme disease, which is a bacterial infection that causes a wide range of illnesses, Babesiosis and Ehrlichiosis, which are parasitic infections that affect the red and white blood cells, and Rocky Mountain spotted fever, which despite its name, is prevalent all over North and South America. All tick-borne diseases are serious, many are permanently disabling, and some are fatal to both humans and animals.
