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Mosquito Spraying Could Start This Week In Orange, Seminole Counties

Leon County Judge John Cooper on June 30, 2022, in a screen grab from The Florida Channel.
The Florida Channel
Leon County Judge John Cooper on June 30, 2022, in a screen grab from The Florida Channel.

Orange County plans to spray 85,000 acres for mosquitoes starting this week.

The window starts Monday night, if weather permits. The following areas will be sprayed: Apopka, Bithlo, Christmas, Moss Park and Wedgefield.

Orange County mosquito traps saw a 550 percent increase in mosquitoes caught in traps in the week following Hurricane Irma. Health officials are worried about the spread of mosquito-born diseases like West Nile Virus, Eastern Equine Encephalitis and the Zika virus.

Orange County sprayed for mosquitoes two months ago, and before that, it was six years before the county last sprayed.Officials will spray about two tablespoons of naled for an area the size of a football field. Naled is a controversial insecticide, and a small study found a link between naled exposure and slight motor delays in babies.

Seminole County plans to spray 49,000 acres Thursday or Friday. The communities there that will be sprayed include Lake Jesup, Lake Harney, Geneva, Chuluota and Black Hammock.

Spraying in both counties is expected to happen at 9 p.m. Officials will use two tablespoons of naled for an area the size of a football field.

Naled is a controversial pesticide that has sparked protests in other parts of Florida.

Health News Florida reporter Abe Aboraya works for WMFE in Orlando. He started writing for newspapers in high school. After graduating from the University of Central Florida in 2007, he spent a year traveling and working as a freelance reporter for the Seattle Times and the Seattle Weekly, and working for local news websites in the San Francisco Bay area. Most recently Abe worked as a reporter for the Orlando Business Journal. He comes from a family of health care workers.