Pottstown To Be Sprayed For West Nile Virus, Risk 'Very High'

POTTSTOWN, PA — Pottstown will be sprayed for West Nile Virus next week after samples of mosquitoes taken into the area tested positive, health officials announced.

The spray event will take place in Riverfront Park on Monday, Aug. 18 from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. A rain date has been set for Aug. 25.

"Residents within the spray area should consider remaining indoors, closing windows, and turning off ventilation systems that draw outside air for the duration of the spray plus 30 minutes afterward," the Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services said in a statement.

Spraying has become common in recent years as mosquito activity and West Nile Virus have spread more widely. While there are a few factors in play, climate change is the overwhelming cause of the increase, according to scientists and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Shorter winters and longer summers give mosquitoes more time to breed, and more severe storms create larger areas of standing water, which mosquitoes need to breed.

No humans have tested positive for West Nile in Pennsylvania yet in 2025, though the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection said it's been detected in nearly every single one of the state's counties, including all of the greater Philadelphia area. The state classifies the current risk as "very high" on its "Skeeter Meter."

Montgomery County itself currently ranks 9th statewide in the number of positive West Nile samples collected, according to state statistics.

In Pottstown, county officials will spray Duet duel-action adulticide at a rate of 0.75 fluid ounces per acre from an ATV-mounted sprayer. A map of the impacted area is below:

West Nile virus appeared for the first time in Pennsylvania in birds, mosquitoes and a horse in 2000. West Nile can cause febrile illness, encephalitis (inflammation of the brain) or meningitis (inflammation of the lining of the brain and spinal cord), according to the CDC. The elderly and those already sick are those most vulnerable to the virus.

The Montgomery County Office of Public Health offers the following tips to stay safe and to eliminate mosquito breeding areas:

• Wear protective clothing such as long pants, long sleeve shirts, and socks
• Spray permethrin, an insecticide product, on clothing, shoes and gear, but not directly on your skin
• Mosquitoes will breed in any stagnant water that stands for five or more days, so it's important to identify and eliminate all sources of standing water
• Dispose of tin cans, plastic containers, ceramic posts or similar water holding containers
• Pay special attention to discarded tires that may have collected water
• Drill holes in the bottom of recycling container that are left outdoors
• 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
• Turn over wheelbarrows and do not allow water to stagnate in birdbaths
• Aerate ornamental pools or stock them with fish
• Keep swimming pools clean and chlorinated as a swimming pool that is left untended becomes a source of mosquito breeding