The Suffolk County Vector Control Division will be spraying larvicide this week in an effort to control adult mosquito populations across the county, including at two marshes in the Town of Riverhead and one marsh in Flanders.
Marshes at Indian Island and Crescent Duck Farm in the Town of Riverhead, and Iron Point in Flanders, are scheduled for treatment, according to a county notice. Marshes in Southold Town will also be treated, including in New Suffolk. Great Hog Neck, Kerwin Boulevard and Pipes Neck Creek.
The treatment will take place between Wednesday and Friday between the hours of 6 a.m. and 6 p.m., according to the health department. The areas will be treated with VectoPrime FG, a fine granule biological larvicide. Its active ingredients are Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis and Altosid (Methoprene) EPA# 73049-501. More information can be found here.
Additional locations scheduled for spraying in the towns of Babylon, Islip, Brookhaven, Southampton and East Hampton are listed on the county’s website.
The products used by Suffolk County vector control are registered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and are applied in accordance with the required state and federal permits, according to the press release.
No precautions are recommended to prepare for this spraying, as the helicopter will be flying at a very low level over marsh areas and taking other precautions to control drift into inhabited areas, the health department said. Human exposure from this operation is unlikely and the products involved have no significant human toxicity, the department said in the release.
The Suffolk County Department of Health Services have identified an “unusually high” number of mosquito samples that have tested positive for the West Nile virus, including in locations in Aquebogue, Riverhead and Manorville.
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