By Phil Corso
The city will continue its fight with West Nile virus starting Wednesday night with sprayings scheduled in northeast Queens, the city Department of Health said.
Helicopters will be spraying larvicide at 8:30 p.m. Wednesday night and 6 a.m. Thursday morning over parts of Bayside, Bellerose, Douglaston, Douglas Manor, Floral Park, Glen Oaks, Little Neck, Oakland Gardens and Queens Village with hopes of killing mosquitoes early on in the larva phase, the DOH said.
City records showed West Nile has already been detected this month alone in several different parts of northeast Queens, including Bayside, Bellerose, Flushing, Fresh Meadows, Hollis, Little Neck and Middle Village, the Health Department said.
The city generally uses helicopter sprayings as a last resort and hits areas identified as high risk for disease transmission, the DOH said. The department has already sprayed in parts of Bayside, Little Neck, Douglaston, Linden Hill, College Point, Edgemere and Somerville earlier this summer.
Bellerose had gone two years since it was last sprayed in 2011 despite residents’ pleas for mosquito relief, TimesLedger Newspapers reported in a story Jul. 19. The DOH added the community to its spray list the following week.
West Nile was found in 41 people and killed six throughout New York City in 2012, the Health Department said. The disease can be typically transmitted through mosquito bites, with the most vulnerable victims including the elderly and those with weakened immune systems, the DOH website said.
Reach reporter Phil Corso by e-mail at pcorso@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4573.
