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**Christy Strawser** (0:01)
This is On Deadline, where the biggest stories, the smartest journalists, and the conversations that matter come together from Audacy news stations across the country.
When news breaks, the story doesn't stop there. I'm Christy Strawser. Let's get started. Where have all the mosquitoes gone? Turns out, they've dropped 50 to 70 percent in population in many parts of the country because of drought. Dry pools don't breed mounds of mosquitoes, but inside that silver lining is a dagger, because fewer mosquitoes fighting for less water means they're congregating, and that tight grouping means more West Nile virus. Here's Tommy Tucker in New Orleans.

**Tommy Tucker** (0:40)
We really start to notice the mosquitoes. Aaron Ashworth joins us as assistant professor of urban peri-urban entomology at LSU. Talk about bugs. Tell me what the deal is with mosquitoes this year so far.

**Aaron Ashworth** (0:52)
Two different trends, what I would say with mosquitoes is when we're not experiencing this rain, we're still going to be encountering mosquitoes. But what is interesting about them is actually when the temperatures are warmer out, mosquitoes grow faster.
But they're the trade-off with that. They end up actually being a little bit smaller in size. And so that actually reduces their ability to kind of get around well, but also their disease risk.

**Tommy Tucker** (1:22)
I love talking to you because I learn something new every time I do.

**Aaron Ashworth** (1:25)
Because of their smaller size, there's actually been some science to show that they're less capable of transmitting disease, which is good for us in some cases.

**Tommy Tucker** (1:35)
So it's a good thing that the temperatures are warmer. That's what the takeaway is?

**Aaron Ashworth** (1:40)
In some ways, yes. We're going to receive some less mosquito pressure just because we're not encountering those rains.
But when we do have rain, of course, we're going to have that big flush of mosquitos that we're pretty commonly encountering afterwards.

**Tommy Tucker** (1:56)
You know, what I should do is bring the audience in here. At a scale of one to ten, one being not too bad at all, ten being horrific. Where are you in the mosquito scale where you live? Oh, I can't remember last time I was bitten by a mosquito.

**Aaron Ashworth** (2:07)
Yeah, I agree. You know, I've been getting hit when I've been out here and there, but the pressure has been lower than what I encountered earlier in the summer. And I'll tell you, I had to invest in a lot of sprays and repellents because I was getting mauled when I'd go outside.

**Tommy Tucker** (2:22)
Somebody wants to know if mosquitoes favor one person over the other. They say they swear that they can go out with other people and the mosquitoes are drawn to them. They are a mosquito magnet.

**Aaron Ashworth** (2:33)
Yes. So there's been some work that has been shown that some people are more attractive to mosquitoes than others. It could be related to several factors. I know one of them was actually asthma and CO2 exhalation. So if somebody is exhaling more CO2 or more frequently, that might make them more attractive to mosquitoes.
Now, some people have implicated blood type as being more attractive to mosquitoes, but they can't particularly detect that, at least from afar. So those are some of the reasons why you might see some different attraction with insects. There are mosquitoes. But of course, they can kind of taste a little bit here and there. But now with mosquitoes, I would also say people's odorants can be different too.
So that can make somebody more attractive to a mosquito beyond just exhalation or breath.

**Tommy Tucker** (3:32)
Mosquitoes of both genders bite you or is it just one?

**Aaron Ashworth** (3:35)
So actually only female mosquitoes will bite. The males feed on pollen and, well, nectar on plants, so they'll actually hang out around flowers in some cases. And so that's why we've got to be extra careful to make sure we don't treat those flowering areas when our pollinators are active. But of course, there are strategies that we can use to protect them while also managing mosquitoes.

**Christy Strawser** (4:05)
There is no vaccine against West Nile virus, but there is controversy about a new executive order regarding MMR vaccines for children. Here's Kay CBS in the Bay Area.

**SPEAKER_4** (4:18)
UCSF infectious disease expert Peter Chin Hong. Thank you so much for being with us this morning. What does this executive order concerning the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine dictate?

**Peter Chin Hong** (4:29)
It dictates that instead of getting a combination shot of measles, mumps and rubella all together in one job, you should give it three separate shots. That is, instead of getting two shots at age one and age five, for example, you'd be getting six shots at age one, getting three and three shots at age five.