Mosquito fogging, first in 3 years, set to begin in Winnipeg Saturday evening

City mosquito fogging crews will roll out across Winnipeg this weekend for the first time in three years.

The recent heavy rainfall of up to 180 millimetres in the city has caused an explosion in the adult nuisance mosquito population. In April, the city launched its larviciding program in an effort to kill as many mosquitoes as possible before they hatched.

"These measures alone are no longer sufficient to control the nuisance mosquito population so an adult nuisance mosquito fogging program will be implemented," the city said in a news release.

Before treatingresidential areas, city crews will start spraying in cemeteries and parks, such as Kildonan Park and Kings Park, where bug counts hit the 1,200 mark.

"What we are trying to do is prevent the mosquitoes from there from migrating into the neighbourhoods,"Ken Nawolski with the city's insect control branch said.

Fogging will start Saturday, July 27, and continue daily between 9:30 p.m. and 6:30 a.m.

In order for the city to start its fogging program, three conditions must be met:

• The adulticiding factor analysis, which includes trap counts, must be high.
• The city-wide average trap count must reach 25 female mosquitoes for two nights in a row.
• At least one quadrant of the city must be in the range of 100 adult female mosquitoes.

The current city-wide trap count is 104.

Theinsecticide DeltaGard 20EW, which was approved in 2017 for use in Canada by Health Canada's pest management regulatory agency,will be used in line with federally approved label directions by licensed pesticide applicators.

The city will send out notifications about the neighbourhoodsthey plan to fog at least eight hours before they start.

To request a notification about when fogging beginsor to apply for a 90-metre buffer zone to prevent fogging near your property, visit the City of Winnipeg website or contact 311.