DEP to Spray For Mosquitoes (Again) in Abington, Upper Dublin

Portions of Abington, Upper Dublin and Upper Moreland are set to get another dose of Biomist tonight.

In an effort to curb the spread of West Nile Virus, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection will spray the insecticide from a truck in Abington in the area between Old Welsh Road, Fitzwatertown Road, the west side of Willow Grove Park mall and Route 63.

Upper Dublin will see the truck between Fitzwatertown Road, Kimball Avenue and Route 63; and Upper Moreland will get sprayed in the area between Easton Road, Route 63 and the Pennsylvania Turnpike.

The spraying will start at about 8 p.m. and will conclude at about 10 to 10:30 p.m.

As of Aug. 29, 98 mosquitoes tested positive for West Nile Virus in Montgomery County, and ten counties in Pennsylvania have had at least one human case of the virus, including one fatality — a man from Luzerne County. No humans have been affected by the virus in Montgomery County, though Philadelphia and Bucks counties each reported one human case.

Pennsylvania DEP spokeswoman Amanda Witman said in an interview today that the insecticide being used — Biomist 3+15 — is safe and poses “very little danger” to humans or pets because the concentration being used is so low. The DEP will be spraying Biomist at a rate of 0.75 ounces per acre; the DEP sometimes uses a concentration of 1.50 ounces per acre, Witman said.

“In all honesty, we don’t have a recommendation that people come inside [during the spraying] because the spraying is safe,” Witman said. “It’s going to be done primarily after dark, and we anticipate that most people will already be inside.”

Witman said the Pennsylvania DEP has never had a case of a human or a pet being affected by the spraying of Biomist; she added that the pesticide degrades quickly in the environment the following day.

Though the chemical targets mosquitoes, Witman said she couldn’t talk on whether other insects would be killed by the chemical.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, of the 12 reported human cases of West Nile Virus in Pennsylvania, eight were neuroinvasive disease cases, meaning the disease affected the person’s nervous system. (Click here for more information on the CDC’s website.) The other four cases were less serious, according to the CDC.

Nationally, as of Aug. 28, there have been 1,590 reported cases of West Nile Virus in people, including 66 deaths. The CDC said over 70 percent of the cases have been reported from six states, including Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas.

Over 45 percent of all reported cases have come from Texas.

These are the highest reported numbers through the last week of August since West Nile Virus first appeared in the United States in 1999, according to the CDC.