Story highlights Heavy rain from storms such as hurricanes can initially decrease mosquito populations

After the storm, residents need to use repellant while cleaning up and rebuilding

(CNN) Hurricane Matthew started pounding the eastern coast of Florida as far south as Miami on Thursday afternoon. The storm has been described as historic and extremely dangerous. But there may be one benefit to the storm's torrential rains: It could put a temporary halt on the mosquitoes that spread the Zika virus.

What does that have to do with a hurricane? Adult mosquitoes get washed away by heavy rain. This includes Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, which transmit the Zika virus. In the short term, from the first few days to about a week after the storm, the mosquito cycle is naturally interrupted -- and that can have a beneficial effect on Zika transmission. In fact, initially after a big storm, there can be a decrease in all mosquitoes.

The first mosquitoes to reappear aren't the types that cause a public health concern.

"We associate severe rain events like tropical events and hurricanes with increases in nuisance mosquitoes, not with disease-spreading (mosquitoes)," said Ben Beard, chief of the Bacterial Diseases Branch in the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Division of Vector-Borne Diseases.

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