NYC Takes Aim At Mosquito Larva With Insecticide Drops

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- New York officials are taking their battle against mosquitoes to the sky.

The West Nile virus hasn't yet been detected in New York City this season. And Dan Kass, deputy commissioner for environmental health at the city Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, said he wants it to stay that way.

As WCBS 880's Monica Miller reported, the city is scheduled to drop nonchemical larvicide by helicopter to marsh and nonresidential areas of Staten Island, the Bronx and Queens, Miller reported.

"What will really help is whether we can effectively prevent mosquitoes from hatching and biting, and whether people take precautions to prevent them from biting them," Kass told Miller.

The drops are slated for Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, weather permitting.

"This is something that is natural," Kass said. "It affects only mosquito larva in those areas."

But Kass said the public needs to do its part.

"Anywhere where there's standing water, we want people to get rid of it over the course of the summer," he said.

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