Mosquitoes won’t be the only thing buzzing over Orange County residents Wednesday night.
The Florida Department of Agriculture has contracted a plane to spray pesticide over parts of Orange County after a resident tested positive for West Nile virus.
The unidentified person lives in the east part of Orange. They were found to have West Nile after a blood donation site tested the blood and found it to be positive for the virus. The donor is asymptomatic.
The Orange County Department of Health uses strategically placed sentinel chickens around the county to detect mosquito-borne viruses and checks routinely for positive diagnoses. Last week, 39 chickens tested positive for the virus. There were 15 other chickens that showed signs of West Nile on Monday. Experts believe most will test positive.
Exacerbating the issue is standing water left in the wake of Hurricane Milton. Parts of the county are still dealing with floodwater and possible breeding sites for Culex mosquitoes.
There are ideal conditions for viral spread, thanks to Milton, and the health department is proactively treating these areas with a focus on vulnerable populations, said Steve Harrison, the manager of Orange County Mosquito Control.
“We have roofers, we have contractors. It's not just homeowners. It's people working in the county as well that are exposed to this,” Harrison said.
About 70% to 80% of people who acquire West Nile will be asymptomatic, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About 20% will develop symptoms of fever, headache, body aches, nausea, skin rash and swollen lymph glands. Less than 1% could experience serious neuroinvasive symptoms such as high fever, stiff neck, disorientation, muscle weakness, numbness, tremors, vision loss and coma.
This year, there have been five people in Florida who have tested positive for West Nile, plus six asymptomatic blood donors, according to the Florida Department of Health.
The crewed flight is scheduled to pass over these neighborhoods: Alafaya, Apopka, Bithlo, Dr. Phillips, Fort Christmas, Lake Nona and Wedgefield.
The plane will be flying at an altitude of 300 to 500 feet and dropping a pesticide that is not harmful to humans, pets and vegetation in a process known as “ultralow volume applications,” with an EPA-approved product called DiBro.
“They're going to atomize (DiBro) at the rate of two-thirds of 1 ounce per acre, which is basically 1.3 tablespoons of liquid, into very small droplets,” Harrison said.
The droplets are sprayed into the air column, where the vector mosquito is believed to be traveling. Because the droplets are the size of the mosquito, it specifically targets the tiny, blood-sucking insect without causing adverse effects to other organisms or the environment, Harrison said.
“If people are concerned, they can be inside. Just close your windows, close your doors. We're treating the air column. We're not treating vegetation,” he said. “You're going to have a low-flying airplane come over a few times. It's not going to be something that you normally hear. So that might be alarming to people who may not have gotten the word that we're going to do an aerial spray.”
The process should only take one night, weather permitting.
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