West Nile Virus Confirmed in Mosquitoes from Salem

Northeast Mosquito Control to conduct spraying later this week

The Salem Board of Health announced today that spraying for mosquitoes will be conducted in parts of South Salem on the night of Wednesday, August 21, starting at 8:00 p.m. Salem’s Board of Health and officials from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts’ Northeast Mosquito Control program made the decision to conduct precautionary spraying following the detection of West Nile Virus-positive mosquito samples in the region in recent days. Spraying is weather-dependent; the rain date will be Thursday, August 22.

The spraying will take place in the area within Lafayette Street/Linden Street to the Swampscott and Marblehead borders. To be most effective, spraying needs to be done when mosquitoes are active and the temperature is about 60 degrees.

Residents of these neighborhoods and those who live within 1,500 feet of the border of any of these areas should take simple precautions to avoid exposure to pesticide during the time that their city or town is scheduled to be sprayed:

• Stay indoors, keep your windows closed, and turn off window fans during the time spraying occurs. If your air conditioner has a fresh air intake feature, you may want to shut off the intake during the spraying.
• Keep pets indoors when spraying is occurring in your immediate area.
• If skin or clothes or other items are come into contact with sprayed pesticide, wash with soap and water. If the spray gets in your eyes, immediately rinse them with water or eye drops, and call your doctor.
• If you have a small ornamental fish pond, you may want to cover it during the night of spraying.
• Following the spray, rinse with water any homegrown fruits and vegetables that may have been sprayed.
• The pesticide being used is Duet, which has been approved for spraying use by the EPA and the Massachusetts Bureau of Pesticides. Sumithrin, the active ingredient in Duet, poses no significant risk to people or pets. Duet is designed to quickly attract and knockout mosquitoes and then quickly dissipate. The pesticide will be sprayed into the air, not onto the ground. As a precaution, Mosquito Control will shut off the spray if people or pets are directly abutting the truck.

Spraying of pesticides reduces but does not eliminate the risk of mosquito-borne illness. All residents, whether inside or outside the spray zone, are urged to continue taking personal precautions to avoid mosquito bites. These include using insect repellent, covering exposed skin when outside, and avoiding outdoor activities between the hours of dusk and dawn, when mosquitoes are at their most active.

Please visit Northeast Mosquito Control at http://www.northeastmassmosquito.com/ and the Department of Public Health at http://www.mass.gov/dph for more information and updates.