Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I'm considering mosquito spraying this summer and fall. Is spraying safe to have done when you are pregnant and working from home? I know there's the more natural garlic spray option, but it seems to get pretty lackluster reviews.
safer than zika...
Spraying lawns is actually ineffective against Zika. We don't have the mosquitos that carry Zika here. We have the invasive Tiger mosquitos. Many of my neighbors spray their yards and it doesn't make a dent with the tiger mosquitos, but they keep doing it.
Regarding Zika, Dr. Scott Weaver head of the Institute for Human Infections and Immunity at UTMB that spraying backyards is ineffective. The females of the mosquitos that carry the virus live in homes of the affected countries. That's why they fumigate those homes to try to eradicate them. It is extremely unlikely however that we'd need to fumigate homes here b/c most everyone has window and door screens as well as AC. The countries where Zika is having the biggest impact don't even have screens.
I'm sure there will be even more massive spraying this summer. It hasn't gotten rid of the tiger mosquito which is the invasive species here or deer ticks that carry lyme. We'll just get even fewer bees and butterflies.
Much of pp's information is WRONG! First, they have found the mosquito that carries Zika in the DC area, and as the weather gets warmer it is possible more will be here. Although there is not a Zika problem here YET, the weather has not been warm enough. Secondly, they are suggesting that the Asian Tiger Mosquito, which we DO have here
MAY be capable of carrying Zika.
Also, we have sprayed for the last few years, and it has greatly reduced the daytime bites (presumably from the Asian Tiger mosquito) that I get on my property. So I do not agree that spraying is ineffective in targeting this type of mosquito.