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Santa Clara, Sunnyvale neighborhoods to undergo more West Nile mosquito spraying

CBS News Live
CBS News Bay Area Live

SANTA CLARA COUNTY – Parts of Sunnyvale and Santa Clara will be sprayed with insecticide to reduce adult mosquito populations Tuesday night after mosquitoes positive for West Nile virus were found in the area. 

The Santa Clara County Vector Control District confirmed the presence of the virus-positive mosquitoes in parts of Sunnyvale and Santa Clara, including ZIP codes 94085, 94086, 94087 and 95051.

The areas will be treated starting at 11 p.m. Tuesday if weather permits and will last approximately four hours, according to the vector control district. The treatment will be centered at Reed Avenue and South Wolfe Road in Sunnyvale.

Tuesday's spraying just comes more than a week after Vector Control sprayed insecticide in the same zip codes.

Residents do not have to relocate during the treatment. Mosquito treatments pose minimal risk to people, pets, animals and the environment when applied by a licensed vector control professional, county officials said. 

Those who would like to take extra precautions can keep family and pets inside during the treatment, with windows and doors shut during the treatment. By sunrise, the insecticide will quickly break down with the sunlight. 

Professionals will apply the insecticides at ultra-low volume so that people aren't likely to breathe or touch anything that has enough insecticide on it to be harmful. All materials used in the treatment are approved by the federal and state Environmental Protection Agencies and are widely used by vector control agencies throughout California.

County officials recommend that people with chemical sensitivities consult their physicians for additional guidance.

West Nile virus is the leading cause of mosquito-borne disease in the continental U.S. and is most commonly spread by the bite of an infected mosquito, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

Cases of West Nile virus usually occur during mosquito season, which starts in the summer and continues through the fall. There are no vaccines to prevent or treat people infected with West Nile virus, however, most people infected by the virus do not get sick. 

The county's vector control district has a dedicated surveillance program to detect the presence of diseases like West Nile virus and others transmitted through the bite of infected mosquitoes. The data collected through surveillance is used to predict locations that are more likely to have these disease-transmitting mosquitoes. When a West Nile virus-positive mosquito is detected, the district starts the mosquito control treatment to reduce the mosquito population in the area, which reduces the risk of human infection.

Residents in affected ZIP codes will receive notice about the treatments through AlertSCC and Nextdoor if they are subscribed. General notice is being provided on social media platforms. 

Vector control staff are available to answer any questions from the public on the dedicated West Nile Virus Hotline at  (408) 282-3114, from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. Questions can also be submitted by email to vectorinfo@cep.sccgov.org.

The county also requests that residents contact them if they are being bothered by mosquitoes or know of a potential mosquito-breeding source at (408) 918-4770 or to fill out a service request online at www.sccvector.org. 

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