We knew it was going to be a bad summer for mosquitoes, but officials are taking action! They will start spraying for the biting, irritating, horrible blood-sucking bugs this week!

Ada County will oversee aerial spraying for mosquitoes about 30 minutes after dusk (weather permitting. The specific areas are around the Boise River where flooding left large areas of standing water, perfect for incubation of larvae, including parts of Eagle, Eagle Island, Boise and Star.

Already this year, officials have found over 6000 mosquitoes, and that's more than they found all last year. Yikes! Oh...and that doesn't count the larvae!

Officials fear that the number is too great for the usual fogging method to be effective, so they are taking to the air to help prevent the spread of West Nile Virus.

NOTE: As of today, June 27, West Nile Virus has NOT been found in Ada County. The aerial spraying that is set to begin tonight is a proactive and preventative strike.

The spray that will be used is not harmful to humans or pets. If you do have a garden, all you need to do is wash your produce as your normally would before consuming. Beekeepers just need to cover the bees each evening.

To see the detailed maps and read about the products used for adulticing (adult mosquito treatment) and larviciding (immature mosquito treatment) please visit the Mosquito Abatement page www.adacounty.id.gov/Mosquito-Abatement.

You can also use the Mosquito Tracker link to see if WNV has been found in any of our 160 surveillance sites. You can also sign up for No Spray Requests. This only applies to fogging (the trucks driving down your streets spraying) and not aerial applications set to begin tonight.

Source: Ada County

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