Katrina Spawns Mosquito Boom

Scientists are concerned that breeding grounds left by Hurrican Katrina could result in an increase of West Nile virus and other diseases.

"The mosquitoes have just taken off," said Janet McAllister, an entomologist with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, according to an article from Reuters.

In New Orleans, officials are trying to combat an influx of salt-marsh mosquitoes in thousands of abandoned and damaged swimming pools in the city's backyards through an improvised program of "pool patrols," McAllister said.

Louisiana has a long history with mosquito-borne illnesses. New Orleans, which borders on marshes and brackish Lake Pontchartrain, was the site of the last yellow fever epidemic in the United States in 1905.