What mosquito species carry WNV?
A. The northern house mosquito*, Culex pipiens is the most common mosquito in urban and suburban areas of eastern Canada and British Columbia. The mosquito larvae can be found in artificial containers and ditches, and also in natural rain puddles and ponds. They thrive in water polluted with organic wastes. The females feed mainly at night and mostly on birds, but they will also bite people both outdoors and indoors. Health Canada says the tendency of these females to feed on people or birds, the wild hosts of West Nile virus, makes C. pipiens the most likely vector of West Nile virus in North America, both from birds to birds and from birds to people. A closely related species, C. restuans, is found in eastern Canada and the prairie provinces. The mosquito larvae are found in similar sites, but the females less commonly bite people.
