Public Spraying
Aerial spraying or fogging is more harmful to mosquito predators than to mosquitoes. Since predators are farther up the food chain, they will take in higher amounts of pesticide. By decreasing mosquito predator populations, aerial spraying actually leads to increases in mosquito populations - Rebecca Watson
image by: LeonardKong
HWN Suggests
Tell Public Officials to Stop Mosquito Spraying and Adopt a Safe, Effective Mosquito Management Plan
In a well-intentioned but ill-informed attempt to prevent mosquito-borne illness such as West Nile virus, many communities spray insecticides (adulticides) designed to kill flying mosquitoes. If your community is one of these, then your public officials need to know that there is a better, more-effective, way to prevent mosquito breeding.
Two classes of insecticides are favored by mosquito spray programs—organophosphates and synthetic pyrethroids. In order to better target flying mosquitoes, adulticides are generally applied as ultra-low-volume (ULV) formulations that will float in the air longer than usual.
Articles of Interest
Aerial Spraying
Airplanes and helicopters can be used to treat very large areas with larvicides or adulticides to kill mosquito larvae or adult mosquitoes.
As Mosquito Spraying Continues, Officials Stress Its Safety
As New York City continued its assault on mosquitoes for the 11th day yesterday, with helicopters swooping over parks in Manhattan and planes spraying malathion in the other boroughs, city officials tried to reassure some residents who seemed more worried about the pesticide than about the potentially deadly disease it is intended to combat.
Brazil to Allow Aircraft to Spray for Mosquitoes to Combat Zika
Medical experts and environmentalists question the efficacy and safety of aerial pesticides.
Efficacy of Aerial Spraying of Mosquito Adulticide in Reducing Incidence of West Nile Virus, California, 2005
Epidemic transmission of West Nile virus (WNV) in Sacramento County, California, in 2005 prompted aerial application of pyrethrin, a mosquito adulticide, over a large urban area. Statistical analyses of geographic information system datasets indicated that adulticiding reduced the number of human WNV cases within 2 treated areas compared with the untreated area of the county.
Eight Reasons Why Spraying Pesticides is Not the Solution to West Nile Virus
How much of a risk is West Nile Virus (WNV)? To some extent, only time will tell. But public health experts stress that there is no cause for fear and panic, or for panic driven "solutions." In fact, the so-called "solution" of spraying pesticides to kill mosquitoes will actually lead to bigger problems. Here are eight compelling reasons why spraying pesticides is not the answer to WNV.
Information Sheet: Malathion and Mosquito Control
Most people would not be expected to experience any symptoms when malathion is sprayed for mosquito control. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency concluded that the use of malathion to control mosquitoes was unlikely to be linked to short-or long-term effects in either children or adults.
Pesticides Used To Control Adult Mosquitoes
Communities seek to control adult mosquitoes to combat an outbreak of mosquito-borne disease or a very heavy, nuisance infestation of mosquitoes. The pesticides we register for this use are known as adulticides. They are applied either by aircraft or on the ground employing truck-mounted sprayers.
S.C. County Sprays For Mosquitoes But Accidentally Takes Out Millions Of Bees
The pesticide raining down from the sky in Dorchester County, S.C., was meant to kill mosquitoes — for the sake of safety, the county says. Mosquitoes, after all, can carry West Nile and Zika, and four cases of Zika were recently confirmed in the county. But on Sunday morning, from 6:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m., as the county conducted aerial spraying, the bees fell by the millions.
Truck Spraying
Mosquito control districts or local government departments track both nuisance mosquitoes and mosquitoes that can spread viruses. Spraying larvicides and adulticides from a truck, according to label instructions, is one way to kill mosquito larvae or adult mosquitoes in an area. This is especially important when people in the community are getting sick from mosquito bites.
What You Need to Know About Aerial Spraying
Mosquito control districts or local government departments track mosquito populations to learn where viruses, like Zika or West Nile, are spreading in a community. When people in a large area are getting sick or large numbers of mosquitoes are found, airplanes can treat very large areas with insecticides safely, quickly, and efficiently. This process is called aerial spraying.
What You Need to Know About Truck Spraying
Mosquito control districts or local government departments track mosquito populations to learn where viruses, like Zika or West Nile, are spreading in a community. Spraying insecticides from a truck is one way to safely kill mosquitoes in an area, especially when people in the community are getting sick from mosquito bites. There are different types of sprayers that can be put on a truck.
‘One-two punch’ shows promise in knocking out mosquitoes that carry Zika, CDC reports
Aerial spraying of the insecticide naled, followed by a product that targets mosquitoes when they are in the larval stage, may be responsible for a sharp drop in Aedes aegypti mosquitoes in a part of Miami where local transmission of the Zika virus was first found, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Friday.
