Worcester Residential Areas to Be Sprayed for West Nile Control

It'll be a bad time to be an adult mosquito in Worcester Township Thursday night.

The Montgomery County Health Department will be adulticiding (spraying) to control the adult mosquito population in selected residential sections of Worcester Township, in order to combat the threat of West Nile Virus.

The spraying will include Mount Kirk Park and all residential streets in the following boundaries:

• Germantown Pike
• East Mount Kirk Avenue
• Park Avenue
• Ridge Pike

Spraying will occur in areas where sampling by the county health department and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has shown mosquitoes that carry West Nile Virus, according to the health department.

Spraying will occur between 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. on Thursday, September 6, weather permitting. A rain date of spraying is September 13. 

There is no aerial spraying involved. Workers from the county health department will use Biomist 3+15 at a rate of 1.5 fluid ounces per acre via a truck-mounted Ultra Low Volume sprayer. 

Call the county health department at 610-278-5117 to report concerns of standing water that may be a breeding area for mosquitoes.

The county health department is ready to work with agencies to identify, eliminate or treat with larvacide areas where mosquitoes are breeding. 

More information on Biomist and adulticide products can be found on the EPA website at http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/health/mosquitoes/

How to Control and Eliminate Mosquito-Breeding Areas 

Here are some home and garden tips from the Montgomery County Health Department to help eliminate mosquito-breeding areas: 

• Identify and eliminate all sources of standing water that collect on your property. Mosquitoes will breed in any puddle that lasts for more than four days.
• Dispose of tin cans, plastic containers, ceramic pots, or similar water holding containers that have collected on your property. Do not overlook containers that have become overgrown by aquatic vegetation.
• Pay special attention to discarded tires that may have collected water on your property. They can serve as a breeding ground for mosquitoes.
• Drill holes in the bottom of recycling containers that are left out of doors. Drainage holes that are located on the container sides collect enough water for mosquitoes to breed in.
• Have clogged roof gutters cleaned on an annual basis, particularly if the leaves from surrounding trees have a tendency to block drains.
• Turn over plastic wading pools when not in use. A wading pool becomes a place for mosquitoes to breed if it is not used on a regular basis.
• Turn over wheelbarrows and do not allow water to stagnate in birdbaths.
• Aerate ornamental pools or stock them with fish. Water gardens are fashionable but become major mosquito breeding grounds if they are allowed to stagnate.
• Keep swimming pools clean and chlorinated. A swimming pool that is left untended becomes a source of mosquito breeding. Be aware that mosquitoes may even breed in the water that collects on swimming pool covers.