Columbia, SC (WLTX) -- The number of mosquito days are increasing according to research from Climate Central.
Mosquito bites can be more than just a minor menace, with diseases like West Nile, malaria and now Zika, protecting yourself and your family has become even more important.
But according Climate Central, higher temperatures and more humidity across the United States due to climate change has led to an increase in the number of mosquito days. This has made the battle against the bugs longer.
The largest increase in the mosquito season has been in Baltimore, Maryland and Durham, North Carolina. The season has increased by 37 days compared to the 1980s.
Myrtle Beach is fourth on the list with its mosquito season growing by 34 days.
In Columbia, the mosquito growing season has grown from 119 days on average from 1980 to 1989 up to 136 days since 2006, an increase of 17 days.
According to Climate Central, as warming continues, the areas favorable for mosquitoes will continue to shift and grow. This will likely bring new problems to places that have not had them in the past.
According to DHEC, South Carolina has had 27 travel-associated cases of Zika. Twenty-six of those were travelers infected abroad and diagnosed after they returned home.
One case of the cases involved a resident of South Carolina who acquired the Zika infection while traveling abroad through sexual intercourse.
There have been no reported cases of locally acquired Zika in South Carolina.
