Heather Curtis
WMAL.com
WASHINGTON – If the weather holds up, the Maryland Department of Agriculture will be spraying for mosquitos in the Strawberry Knolls section of Gaithersburg Thursday night starting at 7:30.
This will not be aerial spraying but rather done with trucks. Residents are asked to stay inside while spraying’s happening.
There are three conditions that prompt spraying: if the mosquitos that are the main carriers of Zika (Aegypti mosquitos) or ones that may carry Zika (Aedes Aegypti) are found in the area, or someone in the area tests positive for Zika after traveling.
“The state of Maryland does not announce what the trigger is for confidentiality reasons,” said Mary Anderson, spokesperson for the Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services.
Anderson said the state wants to make sure that if a resident does have Zika, that person is protected.
“In public health all those types of things, communicable diseases, whether it’s Zika or tuberculosis or meningitis, or that type of thing, identities of individuals affected by those and their confidentiality is very important to public health professionals,” Anderson said.
She said county officials aren’t frustrated the state won’t tell them what triggered the spraying. The most important thing is one of the triggers was met, and the state is doing what it can to protect people.
The state also sprayed the Olde Town area of Gaithersburg and an areas near Westfield Wheaton on the Kensington-Wheaton line last week.
The county is notifying residents whose neighborhoods will be sprayed through reverse 911 or Alert Montgomery.
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