Article content

HOUSTON — Saron Wyatt pointed to the secluded end of her small street in Houston’s impoverished Fifth Ward, where a mound of old tires keeps popping up.

Always a trashy nuisance, it’s now a growing danger. Tires collect water and become prime breeding grounds for mosquitoes — especially the ones that spread Zika virus disease and other tropical mosquito-borne illnesses.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or As Zika looms, U.S. health officials worry about the neighbours Back to video

Wyatt, a mother of five, doesn’t know where the tires are coming from. But she’s worried about it, and so are health officials.

Spraying for the type of mosquito that carries Zika is not always effective, and they can breed in pools of standing water as small as a Styrofoam cup. That means vacant lots or messy yards may need to be cleaned up, whether the owner of the mess wants it cleaned or not.

Dr. Umair Shah, the head of Houston’s county health department, called getting the co-operation of local residents his department’s biggest issue. “It’s really about a neighbour who might have sources of breeding on their property that can impact a neighbour two or three houses down,” he said.