Denton County Delays Aerial Mosquito Spraying

DENTON COUNTY (CBSDFW.COM) - The North Texas weather is having an impact on the battle against West Nile Virus. Officials in Denton County have delayed their plans to start aerial mosquito spraying tonight.

County leaders say the decision was made "based on the expected wind speed during the anticipated spraying times."

Plans have not been scrapped for Thursday night spraying the have not been cancelled.

According to Denton County officials, aerial spraying for mosquitoes carrying West Nile should be done when winds are consistently below 10 mph. On Thursday night winds are forecasted to gust at more than 20 mph for much of the scheduled spraying time.

"Because of the way we spray, and the size of the droplets in the spray and how it's spread, in order for that particular chemical to be effective, as well as to be accurate, we really need consistent winds and we're just not gonna see that today," explained Jamie Moore, with Denton County Emergency Management.

Since the weather conditions are a delay and not a cancellation, per the guidelines set up by Denton County, aerial spraying will be attempted again on Friday, August 31.

There are some 30 Denton County cities that are participating in the aerial spraying, including Denton, Flower Mound, Lewisville, Sanger and Trophy Club.

Denton, Frisco and The Colony have all opted out of aerial spraying. They will be passed over during the air attack. Click here for a full list of participating cities.

The cities of Dallas, Carrollton and Coppell opted into Dallas County's aerial mosquito spraying and will not be part of the Denton County effort.

Weather permitted will be done on Friday evening, between the hours of 9:00 p.m. and 2:00 a.m. Saturday. Another round of spraying will also be done Saturday evening into Sunday morning.

The pesticide used for aerial spraying is approved by the Environmental Protection Agency and is safe for humans and animals. But people wanting to take extra precautions may want to take the following measures to minimize exposure:

• Avoid being outside during spraying; close windows and keep pets inside
• If skin or clothes are exposed; wash them with soap and water
• Rinse homegrown fruits and vegetables with water as a general precautionary measure
• Cover small ornamental fishponds
• Because the chemical breaks down quickly in sunlight and water, no special precautions are suggested for outdoor swimming areas.

Texas has seen a majority of the country's human cases of West Nile, with most of those being in North Texas.