Sebastian mosquito spraying will resume after city exempts county program from local ban

SEBASTIAN — Mosquito spraying here will resume now that the city has exempted the county insect-control program from its chemical spraying moratorium.

City officials said Wednesday they would permit the Indian River Mosquito Control District to resume spraying of chemicals to control the insect population.

In November, the City Council imposed a one-year ban on the spraying of all herbicides/pesticides in waterways and a 120-day ban in parks and ballfields. 

But since state law allows the mosquito-control program, there are questions about whether the city can legally prohibit spraying, and it would make sense to exclude it from the local moratorium, Mayor Ed Dodd said.

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When the city ban became known, Indian River County Mosquito Control District Director Doug Carlson said it was not in the city’s best interests to prohibit spraying since there has been an increase West Nile virus, which is transmitted by mosquitoes.

“We have had a tremendous amount of West Nile virus activity not only in Indian River County but statewide,” said Carlson. “This has been a very active year.”

In 2019, the Mosquito Control District sprayed Sebastian about five times, Carlson said. Some years, it has been as few as three times or as much as 10, depending on the amount of activity that is observed.

The Mosquito Control District and the Health Department monitor the presence of mosquito-borne diseases by testing six flocks of sentinel chickens placed around Indian River County. One of those flocks is located on county land near Sebastian City Hall.

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Recently, researchers detected antibodies used to fight off West Nile virus in 68 of the sentinel chickens in Indian River County flocks. Statewide, about 700 chickens tested positive, Carlson said.

With the moratorium lifted, treatment to prevent mosquitoes can resume in Sebastian. Carlson agreed to provide notice to the city manager about spraying dates and the location. That information will be posted on the city website.