It’s that time of year, when the City of Powell begins spraying for mosquitoes. Spraying days will only be announced on the city’s website by 2 p.m. on the day crews will be spraying. Unlike previous years, the city will not announce the days on KPOW 1260 AM.

City Sanitation Superintendent Allen Griffin said the department received a $3,750 grant from the Wyoming Department of Agriculture to help control West Nile virus. 

The money allows the sanitation department to trap mosquitoes, perform counts and then spray as mosquito numbers increase. The grant money also will pay for Métalarve brand larvicide for city storm drains. The drains often contain standing water, which is prime mosquito habitat.

“It’s a growth regulator,” Griffin explained of the lavicide. “It adds a juvenile hormone to the water that the mosquito larvae eat and can’t grow into a viable adult.” 

According to the Wyoming Department of Health, about one in five people infected with the West Nile Virus develop a fever with other symptoms, while under 1% of infected people develop a serious, sometimes fatal, neurologic illness. Last year, there was one case in Fremont County. 

City crews start spraying when the trap counts or citizen complaints about mosquitoes increase, which is typically around June. 

City crews will start spraying a chemical called Biomist when local residents begin seeing mosquitoes. Biomist is manufactured by Clarke Mosquito Control. More information about the spray is available at http://international.clarkemosquito.com.

Weather permitting, spraying begins at dusk and takes about four hours. If you do not want your property to be sprayed, call the city at 307-754-5106 to be put on a no-spray list.

For more information about the City of Powell’s mosquito-control program, contact the Sanitation Department at 307-754-6941.