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9.5.2000 00:10
Anti-mosquito spraying scheduled in Coventry
By NICOLE GESUALDO
Journal Staff Writer
COVENTRY
-- Anti-mosquito spraying will be conducted this evening in eastern Coventry, two days after the state Department of Environmental Management announced that a dead crow found in town tested positive for the West Nile virus. The spraying will cover a two-mile radius around the spot where the bird was found.
The dead crow was found Aug. 27 in the Westwood Estates Mobile Home Park, between Route 117 and Route 3. The DEM tested the bird for the virus last week and released positive results Sunday night.
The West Nile virus can cause flu-like symptoms in people who contract it. People who have weak immune systems can suffer from complications such as encephalitis, an inflammation of the brain. Seven deaths in New York City last year were attributed to West Nile.
As a precaution, Coventry tonight will spray an insecticide called Sumithrin, which the DEM recommends for killing adult mosquitos that can transmit the virus. Town Manager Francis A. Frobel said the spraying will start at 7 p.m., and will continue until the entire area has been covered, probably by 11 p.m.
It is the first mosquito spraying in Coventry. Sumithrin has been sprayed in other areas where the DEM found birds that tested positive for West Nile. Over the last few weeks, the pesticide has been used in sections of Warwick, Cranston, Westerly, Middletown and Newport.
In Coventry, four small Department of Public Works dump trucks will be equipped with blower-type sprayers borrowed from the DEM, Frobel said. A police cruiser will precede each truck, and a town official will use the police car's speaker system to alert residents to the spraying.
Residents are asked to stay inside their homes during the spraying and for at least 15 minutes afterward, Frobel said. He said they should bring their pets indoors, close doors and windows, and turn off air conditioners to avoid sucking the chemical inside. Anyone exposed to the pesticide should wash the chemical off.
Because the spraying area covers Coventry High School, Coventry Middle School and five of the district's elementary schools -- all but Western Coventry Elementary -- Supt. John Deasy has canceled all evening outdoor activities, including sports practices, Frobel said. The town expects today to send home informational fliers about the spraying with the district's 6,000 students.
Frobel said the trucks would avoid wetland areas, spraying no closer than 300 feet to any bodies of water. He also said they would not spray in underpopulated areas, such as commercial and industrial land.
For more information about the spraying, residents can call 821-6400 to speak to a town staff member. A recorded message at that number will provide information during the hours Town Hall is closed.
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