Has New Hanover County quit spraying to control mosquitoes?
No, you have nothing to worry about – unless you’re a mosquito. Between March and November, New Hanover County sprays regularly for mosquitoes using truck-borne pesticides. All the spraying happens at night, between 6 p.m. and midnight when the mosquitoes are most active and there’s less risk the chemicals will hurt other insects. Dave Jenkins with the Health Department, one of five employees in the Vector Control Division, says that the weekly schedule for spraying is based on data the division gathers regularly and customer complaints. Jenkins said that they have been getting lots of complaints this summer, and that 90 percent of them involve the Asian Tiger Mosquito, which breeds in containers of stagnant water. So, the best thing a resident can do is dump out any standing water on their property to prevent the mosquitos from breeding can breed. “If you breed them you feed them,” Jenkins said. For questions about mosquito spraying in New Hanover County, you can call 798-6667.
