Mosquito battle begins in Winnipeg

There's one good thing about the cold spring in Winnipeg — it has delayed the emergence of mosquitoes.

Ken Nawolsky, superintendent of the city's insect control branch, said Thursday the mosquito fight is starting 10 days later than normal.

The first official trap count, taken last week, was 0. The count is expected to remain low in the coming weeks.

In the meantime, the city is taking its fight to the mosquito larvae. Crews began spraying larvicide on city property at the start of this week.

"We're generally working on all areas of the city but focusing mostly on the west part of the city where we've seen significant amounts of standing water where it's wetter," Nawolsky said.

"And typically that part of the city is wetter than the rest due to the drainage issues."

However, 50 per cent of the larval sites are on private property, so the city is strongly urging homeowners to dump any standing water to get rid of mosquito breeding grounds.