Milpitas neighborhoods to undergo mosquito spraying after West Nile virus found
MILPITAS – A portion of Milpitas will be sprayed with insecticide Saturday night after the Santa Clara County Vector Control District confirmed the presence of mosquitoes that tested positive for West Nile virus, the vector district announced Friday.
The spraying will take place in ZIP code 95035, centered at Gingerwood and Aspenridge drives, starting at 10 p.m. Saturday and lasting for a few hours, vector district officials said. An interactive map of the treatment area is at https://arcg.is/0yXG4C.
Residents will not have to relocate during the treatment, which poses minimal risk to people, pets, animals and the environment, though those who would like to take extra precautions can keep family and pets inside during the ultra-low volume spraying, according to the district.
Residents in the area are being notified by the county's AlertSCC system as well as on Nextdoor and other social media sites.
The mosquito-borne West Nile virus can lead to illness and in rare cases death if people get infected, but most who contract it do not show any symptoms. Since the virus came to California in 2003, 7,474 people across the state have gotten the virus and 359 of those cases were fatal, vector district officials said.
District staff can answer any questions by phone from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekdays on a dedicated West Nile virus hotline at (408) 282-3114 or by email at vectorinfo@cep.sccgov.org.
The county also requests that residents contact them if they are being bothered by mosquitoes or know of a potential mosquito-breeding source at (408) 918-4770 or to fill out a service request online at www.sccvector.org.
