Health Experts and Vets Warn Oklahomans About Recent Mosquito Pop

If you've been outside at all over the past week or so you certainly don't need me to tell you this, there's mosquitoes everywhere! With all the recent rain we've seen it's taken the mosquito population and doubled, maybe even tripled it. Over the July 4th weekend it was a nightmare of constantly spraying repellent on yourself and lighting Citronella candles.

They were thick and never ending in their assault on our cookout and skin. Health experts and veterinarians across the state are warning Oklahomans about the dangers of mosquitoes and how to avoid not only getting bit, but how to keep them from completely taking over.

Mosquitoes can carry all kinds of diseases and can really make you sick if you're bitten. Probably the most known diseases are Malaria and West Nile Virus, but mosquitoes can carry all kinds of other disease as well. Not only are they dangerous to humans but to all of our four legged friends as well. Flood mosquitoes are one of the leading causes of heartworms in both dogs and cats.

They infect pets by biting them and it can cause serious health issues, even death to your pet if not treated in time. Vets are urging owners to make sure their pets are taking regular heartworm pills or some other form of preventive treatment to help reduce and hopefully eliminate the risk of getting heartworms. This in combination with a flea and tick collar and treated yard will go along way in protecting your pets.

When it comes to protecting yourself make sure you're using repellent preferably one with Deet or something comparable. If possible wear long sleeves while outdoors. I know in Oklahoma during the Summer that's near impossible. Mosquitoes are most active at dawn and dusk so try to avoid being outdoors during this time.

Mosquitoes love standing and still water so make sure you empty anything outdoors that holds water including: birdbaths, open rain barrels, clogged drains and gutters where water can stand, untreated swimming pools and slash pads, basically anything that can hold water needs to be drained, emptied and dried up. Otherwise it becomes a breeding ground for mosquitoes and you'll never be rid of them.

You can get Mosquito Dunks to place in birdbaths and other locations to keep mosquitoes from breeding. You can find them at Lowe's, Home Depot, Amazon and just about everywhere else. Not too sure if Walmart sells them but I bet they do. You should be able to find them in the lawn and garden section of most home improvement and big box stores.

The wetter it gets, the worse it gets when it comes to the mosquito population. The City of Lawton has be fogging as part of the city's Vector Program and will continue to do so in all populated areas through September. Click here for all the details and for a map that shows what areas and days they'll be fogging. Take all the steps you can to keep yourself and your pets healthy from mosquitoes bites. The first two or three battles have gone to the mosquitoes, but we'll eventually win the war!

LOOK: Here Are 30 Foods That Are Poisonous to Dogs

To prepare yourself for a potential incident, always keep your vet's phone number handy, along with an after-hours clinic you can call in an emergency. The ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center also has a hotline you can call at (888) 426-4435 for advice.

Even with all of these resources, however, the best cure for food poisoning is preventing it in the first place. To give you an idea of what human foods can be dangerous, Stacker has put together a slideshow of 30 common foods to avoid. Take a look to see if there are any that surprise you.