Aerial Treatment in North Sacramento County and a Small Portion of Placer County will begin Tuesday

Elk Grove, Calif.— The Sacramento-Yolo and Placer Mosquito Control Districts announced today that aerial spraying to control mosquitoes that may carry the potentially fatal West Nile virus is scheduled for areas of North Sacramento county and a small portion of Placer County. If weather permits, aerial spraying utilizing two planes will be conducted over three consecutive nights beginning Tuesday, July 27th between 8:00 pm and midnight. “We’re very concerned about the high number of infected mosquito samples and dead birds found in this area” said David Brown District Manager. “The number of mosquitoes and virus infection rates continue to be high and we need to take immediate action to reduce risk of human infections” said Brown. With National Night Out scheduled for next week, many will be engaging in outdoor activities and aerial spraying is deemed necessary in order to protect public health and decrease the risk of West Nile virus. In the last couple of weeks, WNV activity has intensified throughout the state and currently there are four confirmed human cases, three of them from Stanislaus County and the other from Kern County.

A small portion of the area to be treated is in Placer County and both Districts are coordinating efforts to address the West Nile virus hot spots that lie on both sides of the Sacramento-Placer border. “This is a great opportunity for our Districts to coordinate and share resources,” said Joel Buettner, General Manager of the Placer Mosquito and Vector Control District “We want to ensure that all residents are protected, since neither mosquitoes nor West Nile virus recognize county borders.” said Buettner.

The area that will be treated is approximately 35,000 acres (see the attached maps for exact areas in both counties). The material that will be used is Evergreen 60-6, the same pyrethrin based product used in previous treatments. This material is registered for use in mosquito control by the Environmental Protection Agency.

Recently, aerial spraying to combat mosquitoes and West Nile virus was conducted over South Sacramento. Preliminary results show that general abundance of mosquitoes decreased significantly in the area sprayed as compared to the number of mosquitoes seen in the same area the week before and in comparison to untreated areas.

Residents can subscribe to receive email notifications for mosquito treatments by zip code. To sign up, visit www.FIGHTtheBITE.net and go to Spray Notifications. Information for current treatments planned is also available on the District website.

Placer County residents can visit the Placer Mosquito and Vector Control District website at http://www.placermosquito.org for updated Spray Notifications and additional information.

2010 West Nile virus activity update:
Level 2–Sacramento County: 52 dead birds, 0 sentinel chickens, 113 mosquito samples have tested positive for West Nile virus to date.
Level 2–Yolo County: 4 dead birds, 0 sentinel chicken, 2 mosquito samples have tested positive for West Nile virus to date.
Level 2–Placer County: 1 dead bird, O sentinel chickens, 3 mosquito samples have tested positive for West Nile Virus to date.

Contact: Ada Barros, Public Information Officer (916) 380-5480.