AMARILLO, Texas (KAMR/KCIT) — Officials with the city of Amarillo’s Environmental Health Department spoke on the return of mosquitos to the area, as rainfall continues, filling the playas and large pools of standing water, a potential ground for mosquitos to lay eggs.

Anthony Spanel, the environmental health director for the city of Amarillo, said his staff pre-treats areas of the city daily for larvae and only treats for adult mosquitos by request.

“There’s a bunch of mosquitos out there, so if you can just let us know where the adults are at, remember we only treat for adult mosquitos by complaint only, so we’re asking the community to submit complaints to ehealth@amarillo.gov,” said Spanel.

Spanel said the city has a three-tier treatment program that dispenses larvicide to kill mosquito larvae and fog areas to control adult mosquitos.

According to Spanel, mosquitos breed rapidly and can spread illnesses such as West Nile Virus which can potentially be prevalent in the area.

“Mosquitoes can breed in any standing water, they can breed in a cap full of water or big pile lakes, water on your property, bird baths, dog, dog bowls, any kind of standing water they can breed in,” said Spanel.

Spanel said ways the community can help is by discarding standing water in containers on one’s property.

“So a lot of mosquitoes come out during dawn and dusk so early in the morning and late at night. Okay, so when you’re out during those times, or really anytime it’s important to defend yourself from being bitten,” he said.

Various ways that people can defend themselves from mosquitos include wearing long-sleeved clothing and insect repellants.

Environmental Nuisance request information can be found on the City of Amarillo website.