NORRISTOWN, PA—The Montgomery County Department of Health & Human Services Office of Public Health (OPH), after consulting with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP) and Lower Merion Township officials, will be adulticiding (spraying) to control the adult mosquito population in selected areas. The spraying will be done where sampling by the OPH and PADEP has shown mosquitoes that carry the West Nile Virus (WNV).
Weather permitting, the spray event will occur on Wednesday, September 4, 2024, from approximately 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. The alternate date will be Thursday, September 5, 2024. All areas within the highlighted sections of the attached map will be subject to the spray. The spray will take place within Ashbridge Memorial Park. Residents within the spray area should consider remaining indoors, closing windows, and turning off ventilation systems that draw in outside air for the duration of the spray plus 30 minutes after.
Workers will be using Duet® Duel-Action Adulticide at a rate of 0.75 fluid ounces per acre applied with an ATV mounted Ultra Low Volume (ULV) sprayer. The spray will be performed by OPH personnel.
OPH will work with appropriate agencies to identify, eliminate, and/or treat with larvicide, areas where mosquitoes are breeding. Residents may contact the OPH at 610.278.5117 or publichealth@montgomerycountypa.gov if they are concerned about an area of standing water that may be breeding mosquitoes. The adult mosquito control program will only be used in limited situations to reduce disease-infected adult mosquitoes.
For further information about the products being used, visit the OPH website. For notification of any future spray events sign up with ReadyMontco at www.montgomerycountypa.gov/readymontco.
Tips to eliminate mosquito-breeding areas:
- Identify and eliminate all sources of standing water that collect on your property. Mosquitoes will breed in any stagnant water that lasts for 5 or more 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 on the container sides collect enough water for mosquitoes to breed in.
- Have clogged roof gutters cleaned annually, particularly if the leaves from surrounding trees tend to block drains.
- Turn over plastic wading pools when not in use. A wading pool becomes a place for mosquitoes to breed if not used regularly.
- 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 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.
