Low-flying aircraft to drop mosquito spray over parts of Orange County

It won't just be mosquitoes buzzing over Orange County residents on Wednesday evening.

The Florida Department of Agriculture has ordered a plane to spray pesticides over parts of Orange County after a resident tested positive for West Nile virus.

The unknown person lives in the eastern part of Orange. They were found to have West Nile disease after a blood donation center tested the blood and found it positive for the virus. The donor is asymptomatic.

The Orange County Health Department deploys strategically placed sentinel chickens throughout the county to detect mosquito-borne viruses and routinely checks for positive diagnoses. Last week, 39 chickens tested positive for the virus. There were 15 more chickens showing signs of West Nile on Monday. Experts assume that most people will test positive.

The problem is exacerbated by standing water resulting from Hurricane Milton. Parts of the county are still dealing with flooding and possible breeding grounds Culex Mosquitoes.

Thanks to Milton, conditions are ideal for virus spread, and the health department is proactively treating these areas with a focus on vulnerable populations, said Steve Harrison, manager of Orange County Mosquito Control.

“We have roofers, we have contractors. It's not just homeowners. It’s also the people who work in the county who are impacted,” Harrison said.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 70 to 80% of people who get West Nile remain asymptomatic. About 20% develop symptoms such as fever, headache, body aches, nausea, rash and swollen lymph glands. Less than 1% may experience serious neuroinvasive symptoms such as high fever, neck stiffness, disorientation, muscle weakness, numbness, tremor, vision loss, and coma.

This year, there have been five people in Florida who have tested positive for West Nile and six asymptomatic blood donors, according to the Florida Department of Health.

The manned flight will fly over the following districts: Alafaya, Apopka, Bithlo, Dr. Phillips, Fort Christmas, Lake Nona and Wedgefield.

The aircraft will fly at an altitude of 300 to 500 feet and apply a pesticide that is not harmful to people, pets and vegetation in a process known as “ultra-low volume applications” with an EPA-approved Product called DiBro.

“They will atomize (DiBro) into very small droplets at a rate of two-thirds of an ounce per acre, which is basically 1.3 tablespoons of liquid,” Harrison said.

The droplets are sprayed into the air column where the vector mosquito is presumably located. Because the droplets are the size of a mosquito, it specifically targets the tiny, blood-sucking insect without causing harmful effects to other organisms or the environment, Harrison said.

“If people are worried, they can be indoors. Just close your windows, close your doors. We treat the air column. We don’t treat vegetation,” he said. “A low-flying plane will come by a few times. It won't be something you normally hear. So that could be alarming to people who may not have found out that we're going to do an air shot.”

The process should only take one night, weather permitting.

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