Insecticide fog falls on Brandon for first time in 3 decades
Last Updated: Monday, July 9, 2007 | 3:45 PM CT
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The City of Brandon fogged its streets with the malathion this weekend for the first time in 30 years, one of several Manitoba communities under provincial orders to kill adult mosquitoes.
The province issued an order for the western Manitoba city to spray the broad-spectrum organophosphate insecticide due to an increasing population of mosquitoes that carry the West Nile virus in the area.
"Our biggest efforts to start the program was sort of the green space where there's a lot of community recreational use, i.e. down by the river corridor area," city spokesman Rick Bailey said. "We concentrated on that area, we did walkways, but in essence we went through the entire city."
Despite not having used the equipment in three decades, Bailey said it went very well. It took four trucks one night to fog the entire city of 40,000.
"We have had concerns from our residents that don't really agree with using, you know, a pesticide to spray for adult mosquitoes, but basically I think staff have done a really good job of notifying [them]," he said. "All in all, I think most understand that, you know, it is a health order and we have to look after the best interests of the whole community."
City officials say they are waiting to hear whether the province will order another round of fogging.
A second application could take place as early as Wednesday, Bailey said.
Elsewhere in the province, the towns of Beausejour, Niverville and Oakbank were to be fogged Monday night, if weather permits.
Winnipeg is carrying out two fogging campaigns: One for "nuisance" mosquitoes, which respects the 100-metre buffer zones around the properties of residents who have opted out of the program, and the other under the ministerial order, which ignores the buffer zones.
Parts of eastern and northwestern Winnipeg were fogged under ministerial order over the weekend, but no further fogging is scheduled under that program for Monday night, according to the city's website.
Under the nuisance program, fogging is scheduled for areas in northeast and central Winnipeg.
However, fogging only takes place when the weather permits: Temperatures must be at least 13 C and there can be no significant wind or rain.
The forecast for southern Manitoba for Monday night calls for high winds and rain, and the mercury is expected to hover around the 13 C mark.
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