County To Spray For Mosquitoes In Levittown

BRISTOL TOWNSHIP, PA — After several mosquitoes carrying the potentially dangerous West Nile virus were captured in the area, Bucks County planned to spray for mosquitoes in Bristol and Falls townships on Wednesday and again later this week.

The Bucks County West Nile Virus Prevention Program planed an "ultra-low volume" mosquito control operation in those two spots, as well as Wrightstown, "to reduce high populations of mosquitoes capable of transmitting West Nile virus."

The areas sprayed Wednesday will be the Magnolia Hills and Birch Valley sections of Levittown. Spraying is scheduled to begin at dusk.

On Friday, crews will spray again in Bristol, this time in a section of Croydon bounded by Rt. 13, Rt. 413, the Delaware Rivery and Neshaminy Creek.

The treatments will be administered via truck-mounted equipment, spraying mosquito habitats in residential and park locations. Trucks used in the spray will be identified with Bucks County seal logos located on the doors.

According to the county, the equipment dispenses Kontrol 4+4 Adulticide at a rate of .75 ounces per acre. The product is designed to provide quick control of adult mosquito populations and has a low toxicity profile to mammals, Bucks County said in a news release.

It also will have a "negligible impact" to non-target insects and the environment, the county said.

If weather conditions don't allow spraying on Wednesday, it will be done on Thursday instead.

On Tuesday, the Pennsylvania West Nile Control Program announced that three mosquitoes carrying the West Nile virus had been found in Bensalem, bringing to 10 the number of mosquitoes with West Nile tested in Bucks County this season.

Mosquitoes with West Nile also have been captured in Bristol, Upper Southampton and Warminster. No human infections have been reported in Bucks County.

West Nile is most commonly spread to people by mosquito bites. About one in five people infected with West Nile develop a fever and other symptoms, and about one in 150 develop serious, sometimes fatal illness, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

West Nile can cause encephalitis, or swelling of the brain, in those extreme cases.

While the risk of becoming ill from a bite by a mosquito carrying West Nile is low, officials urge residents to take precautions, like using repellent and removing standing water from their property.

West Nile virus appeared for the first time in Pennsylvania in birds, mosquitoes and a horse in 2000.