From the State Apiarist

The Department of Health will conduct suppression sprays in reponse to increased mosquito populations following Hurricanes Irene and Lee. It is anticipated this will be night time aerial application of the pesticide dibrom. The earliest possible date that spray activities could start would be next Monday evening (Sept. 12th), barring unforeseen weather events that can affect the spray schedule. They are not spraying sparsely populated rural areas. Also, their spray block boundaries typically do not extend more than a half mile in any direction from the most populated areas within each town. Check with local authorities for specific dates and times for mosquito spray in your area.

The proposed list of spray areas includes the following towns and cities within the following counties:

• Sussex County – Towns of  Stony Creek, Waverly and Wakefield;
• Surry County – Town of Dendron; Isle of Wight – Towns of Zuni, Windsor and the eastern suburbs of Franklin City;
• Southampton County – Towns of Courtland, Boykins and the western suburbs of Franklin City;
• City of Franklin and;City of Suffolk [the areas targeted in Suffolk include the town of Whaleyville and the densely populated regions within the town of Suffolk and extending north on either side of the Nansemond River].   

This list is only a “proposed list” as some sites may be removed from the target list if mosquitoes are not found to be a problem there).  At this point, they will not be adding any towns or cities to this list.

Sincerely,

Keith Tignor
Office of Plant Industry Services
Virginia Dept. of Agriculture & Consumer Services
P.O. Box 1163
Richmond, VA 23218