If you do get bitten, keep the bite area clean and avoid scratching. Alcohol or ice applied to the bite will reduce the itching. If the itching or inflammation is extreme, or if infection is suspected, see your physician. Some species of mosquitoes may transmit diseases, such as West Niles virus or malaria to humans or encephalitis to horses, and heart-worm to dogs. If mosquitoes are a problem where you live, make sure that you are not providing breeding sites in your own yard.
Mosquitoes breed in all sorts of still water.
Running creeks or ponds with any water movement or with predators such as fish, frogs, or dragonflies are not suitable habitats for mosquitoes. The most effective way to control mosquitoes is to eliminate or treat the standing water where the larvae live. Once adult mosquitoes have emerged, chemical controls give effective but only temporary relief.