Aerial mosquito spraying begins

HARLINGEN - Those mosquitoes getting on your last nerve?

Well, you may not have to fret much longer.

An aerial attack on the mosquitoes that infested the Rio Grande Valley after Hurricane Dolly hit July 23 launched this week and is set to continue until 1.1 million acres in the area are covered.

Laura Robinson, a veterinarian for the Texas Department of Health Services, said spraying began Sunday, focusing on the hard-hit areas of Santa Rosa, Highway 107 between La Villa and San Carlos, Rio Hondo, and parts of Elsa, Edcouch and Combes.

On Monday night, spraying continued in Combes, then Primera, Palm Valley, San Benito, Harlingen and parts of Highway 107 and Highway 83. Aerial drops are expected to continue through the week, moving toward the Upper Valley during those days.

The landing rate of mosquitoes on a human is as high as 100 per minute in some parts of the Valley right now, officials said.

"People still need to take precautions," Robinson said, despite the sprayings. "They need to limit standing water because (mosquitoes) will still emerge."

Laura McGowan, spokeswoman for Chicago-based Clarke Mosquito Control, said that the chemical Dibrome will be used to kill mosquitoes on contact.

"It poses no risk to the health or the environment," McGowan said. "(Dibrome) has been registered since 1959 and has been used after every major hurricane.

"This is not going to eradicate every mosquito but it will suppress the population."

One twin-turbine King aircraft will spray the chemical, but more planes are expected to join the effort by the end of the week, McGowan said. One plane can spray about 70,000 acres per night.

"We will be spraying from dusk till dawn," McGowan said. "We need to get (the mosquitoes) when they're out at the buffet."

Although she said people are unlikely to notice the chemical, a local official encouraged residents to stay indoors during spraying times, as an extra precaution.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency is expected to pay 75 percent of the cost to spray the Valley from South Padre Island to La Joya and the Texas Department of Health Services is slated to fund the other 25 percent.

It will cost $2 per acre, or more than $2 million to spray the 1.1 million acres. The cost will increase if additional spraying is necessary, Robinson said.