We received this notice from the city of Columbus late this afternoon:
Columbus Public Health (CPH) will be spraying area parks ahead of the July 4th holiday weekend to prevent disease and protect residents’ health.
Columbus Public Health has added Whetstone Park to the holiday spray schedule for Monday, July 3 because of what we found over the past couple of weeks regarding the mosquito population at the park. The amended press release is attached.
Two traps were set on 6/15/17. The first trap was set close to the pond and only resulted in six Culex mosquitoes being trapped. The second trap was set in the Prairie and resulted in 262 Culex mosquitoes being trapped.
Two traps were set on 6/21/17. The first trap was set close to the beaver dam and resulted in 283 Culex mosquitoes being trapped. The second trap was set in the Prairie and resulted in 445 Culex mosquitoes being trapped. 445 is a high number for mosquitoes, and would normally result in adulticiding due to the high number and historical positives of West Nile Virus mosquito pools found in Clintonville.
We have four areas in Whetstone Park that we check for mosquito larvae. Two of the sites had mosquito larvae present. One site is located along the bike path in the woods and it had larvae present on 6/15/17. The other site is the stream where the beaver dam is located. This site had larvae present on both 6/15/17 and 6/21/17.
We are scheduled to spray all city parks in Columbus and Worthington Friday, June 30 and Monday, July 3 in preparation for 4th of July activities. Adulticiding with truck mounted sprayers is the most efficient way to knock down and kill adult mosquitoes. Spraying is conducted at dawn to avoid targeting pollinators. While spraying in the early morning of Monday, July 3 in Whetstone Park, staff has been instructed to avoid spraying within 150 feet of the Rose Garden and the Prairie.
CPH practices disease control and prevention for the West Nile virus by trapping mosquitoes, investigating complaints, treating standing water and spraying in areas with high mosquito counts and disease presence. The adulticiding product used is Pursuit 4 – 4, which is a permethrin-based formulation that provides quick knock-down and effective control of mosquitoes.
Clintonville residents also are encouraged to help prevent mosquito growth by eliminating standing water and to protect themselves by wearing insect repellant with DEET.
For more information on West Nile, visit www.publichealth.columbus.gov, www.cdc.gov and www.epa.gov. For an updated spraying map, visit www.publichealth.columbus.gov.
Regards,
Keith L. Krinn, RS, MA, DAAS, CPHA
Environmental Health Division Administrator
