May 13, 2024. Reno/Sparks, Nev. – The first helicopter mosquito treatment in Washoe County is scheduled to take place May 16, 2024, Northern Nevada Public Health (NNPH) has announced.

The aerial application will treat wetlands and other known mosquito habitats in the North Valleys, Spanish Springs and South Reno. The environmentally-friendly treatment is a granular product using small pellets rather than a liquid spray, and is specifically designed to target mosquito larvae to prevent them from becoming biting adults that may transmit diseases like West Nile virus (WNV) and others.

The application usually takes place in the early morning hours, weather permitting.

WNV is an illness that can cause headache, high fever, stiff neck, disorientation, coma, tremors, paralysis, and death. Find more information at this link.

As a precaution, those recreating near wetlands and other areas with mosquitos should take precautions such as wearing loose-fitting clothing (pants and long-sleeved shirts), use insect repellant, and understand that mosquitos are most active during morning and evening hours.

Check NNPH’s Vector-Borne Disease Prevention website for more information on mosquito treatment, source reduction, preventative measures, and other updates.

New technology coming for local mosquito abatement

This spring and summer, NNPH staff will begin using unmanned aerial aircraft, or drones, to reduce the mosquito population.

Drones will be used to treat wetland areas where mosquitos live that are difficult to access. For over a year, the VBD team has been training and filing proper paperwork with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and other jurisdictions to get this drone program off the ground.

The new program will supplement other mosquito reduction efforts and will treat areas with the same environmentally-friendly granular product that is used with the helicopter application. Drones will only be used on land where mosquitos are prevalent, and they will not be used near houses, businesses or other buildings.

More information will be released when the unmanned aerial system launches.

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Please note the Washoe County Health District changed its name to Northern Nevada Public Health on Aug. 31, 2023. More information is here.

Northern Nevada Public Health (NNPH) is nationally accredited by the Public Health Accreditation Board and has jurisdiction over all public health matters in Reno, Sparks, and Washoe County through the policy-making District Board of Health. NNPH consists of five divisions: Administrative Health Services, Air Quality Management, Community and Clinical Health Services, Environmental Health Services and Epidemiology & Public Health Preparedness. More info can be found here.