Health & Fitness
Worcester Announces Mosquito Spraying Dates For September
The September schedule follows multiple West Nile virus-positive mosquito samples in the city.
WORCESTER, MA — Mosquito control crews are tentatively scheduled to visit Worcester on five Tuesdays in September to address residents’ concerns.
The Central Massachusetts Mosquito Control Project may conduct limited truck-mounted pesticide spraying in the city on Sept. 1, 8, 15, 22 and 29. Treatment will depend on weather, mosquito populations and virus activity. No aerial spraying is planned.
Specific treatment areas will be posted on the CMMCP website and available by calling 508-393-3055 after 3:30 p.m. on each scheduled day. The agency’s full 2026 spraying schedule is also available online.
Residents may request spraying or other services, including ditch maintenance and abandoned swimming pool treatment, through the agency’s website or by calling 508-393-3055 between 7 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Worcester officials will notify affected neighborhoods through email, social media and text messages. Residents can register or update their contact information through ALERTWorcester.
During spraying, residents should close street-facing windows, turn off outside-air settings on air conditioners and keep pets indoors between sunset and midnight. Officials also recommend remaining inside during treatment and for 15 to 20 minutes afterward, keeping children away from spray trucks and washing homegrown vegetables before eating them.
Property owners may request exclusion from wide-area pesticide applications by following instructions from the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources.
Residents can reduce mosquito exposure by wearing long sleeves and pants, using repellent according to label directions, avoiding outdoor activity around dawn and dusk and emptying containers that collect standing water. Screens should also be installed or repaired to help keep mosquitoes outside.
The mosquito control program will end once cool nighttime temperatures become predominant, according to CMMCP.
Mosquitoes Test Positive For WNV In Worcester, State's First Human Case
The September schedule follows the detection of a fifth West Nile virus-positive mosquito sample in Worcester, city officials announced on Aug. 12. That prompted truck-mounted spraying in several city neighborhoods.
No human cases had been detected in Worcester at that time and the city’s risk level remained moderate.
Massachusetts officials also announced the state’s first human West Nile virus case of 2026 on Friday, involving a man in his 90s who was exposed in Middlesex County. The announcement also raised the West Nile virus risk level to moderate in 70 communities.
At the time, state health officials reported 180 West Nile-positive mosquito samples across 13 Massachusetts counties, including Worcester County.
Most people exposed to the virus do not become seriously ill, but older adults and people with compromised immune systems face a greater risk of severe illness, according to state health officials.
