The Board of Health is moving forward with a town-wide spraying to kill mosquitos Wednesday night, September 25, 2019. The spraying will be carried out by the Northeast Mosquito Control District, the same organization that has, when necessary, conducted mosquito spraying for years in the area.
The spray targets mosquitos in particular, degrades very quickly (within 30 minutes) and leaves no harmful residue. The spray will reach approximately 150 feet on each side of the road. Residents close to roads are encouraged to close street facing windows while spraying occurs and may reopen windows 30 minutes after the truck goes by your home. Please stay indoors while the truck is spraying your street. If you have an organic garden you may want to cover your plants. If not, simply wash your vegetables before eating. The schedule calls for spraying to begin at 6:45PM Wednesday and will last about two hours.
Last week the Board was informed of a Manchester resident who was infected with EEE. Confirmation of where the resident was when bitten was not possible. Heightened testing for the virus in town continues. The weather forecast calls for the return of warm weather for weeks to come meaning mosquito activity and breeding will continue to be high. The warmer weather also affords the opportunity to spray (night time temperatures need to be above 55). Thus, the Board of Health has concluded that spraying should move forward in order to be as pro-active as possible to combat the threat of the EEE virus taking hold in Town.
In addition, the Board of Health has decided that all outdoor activities are to cease by 6pm until further notice. Mosquitoes are most active during the twilight time thus the risk of being bitten is higher. Residents are encouraged to cover up and use mosquito repellent anytime they are outdoors. The BOH also asks that residents remove sources of standing water around your home.
More detailed information is available at the following web-sites: www.nemassmosquito.org.
www.mass.gov/dph/mosquito.