More Mosquitoes Testing Positive for West Nile Virus in Decatur
Decatur Metro | August 27, 2011Lovely. Patch reports…
Traps in Decatur and other parts of DeKalb County captured 74 collections of mosquitoes that tested positive for West Nile Virus through Friday, a big increase over the number found with the virus last year, according to data from the DeKalb County Board of Health.
The Board of Health has not reported any new cases of people who have contracted West Nile Virus in Decatur or Avondale Estates, but the board said a 79-year-old in Tucker has been infected.
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Does Dekalb or Decatur spray for mosquitoes? They’re worse here than any place I’ve ever lived. No amount of spraying, cleaning, trimming has had any effect on the population in my yard.
Does Decatur or DeKalb spray for mosquitoes? I remember regularly seeing the “bug truck” growing up in Florida, but have never seen any kind of municipal pest control in Atlanta.
Great minds, Josh…
Oh my gosh… the sweet sounds and smells of the beach…and the bug-spray truck. Good times.
If the bug truck were to come through, could anything grown in Decatur be considered organic?
Food for thought. I guess no
When we lived in Medlock Park 2 years ago, they sprayed regularly.
Better to wear the stinky bug repellent than to breathe the poison.
Organic home gardens or saving someone’s life. Seems like an easy choice to me – Start spraying
It’s never that simple and being responsible means weighing both advantages and disadvantages in the use of any pesticide, especially on a large scale. There are a lot more negatives to spraying that just being “organic”. the pyrethroid compounds in the fog pesticides do pose some risks, especially to waterways. I’d rather hear from epidemiologists rather than
attention grabbing headlines. any out there?
There was spraying a long time ago – maybe 20-25 years ago. I don’t know if it was the county or the city doing the spraying. Also don’t remember any details about when /why the spraying program stopped.
As I recall, the mosquitoes were still pretty bad – seemed like spraying didn’t do much good .
There is a company online (http://www.mosquitobarrier.com/) that sells a natural garlic-based spray which has worked pretty well for us. Smells awful for about 30 minutes, but it dissipates and continues to work for about a month (if it doesn’t rain too much) before you have to re-treat. We spray it around our back deck area and it seems to keep the mosquitos at bay. I’m not sure how well this stuff would work as a large scale treatment option, but if you’re looking for something to combat the problem in your own back yard, it’s worth looking into.
I especially like the note on their site that says, “the gallon size is almost always enough for the entire year for most homes – including areas where the mosquito is the state bird.”
Oh, wow– this sounds awesome! We’ve been very concerned about doing a chemical spraying because our dog loves to roll around in the grass, but this seems like it could be the solution to our thriving mosquito population (is it just me, or are there throngs of them this year??). Thanks so much for posting!
You’re very welcome! I hope it works for your needs. We’ve been pleased. Just don’t let the dog go out within the first hour or so or he’ll come in stinking of raw garlic! :o)