The District Board of Health has voted to delay aerial mosquito abatement this season after a recommendation from Northern Nevada Public Health.
The delay was proposed by NNPH because of an increase in costs to manage the program.
Usually, helicopter mosquito abatement is done four to five times a year in the spring and summer. Each time costs more than $2,000.
NNPH says abatement helps decrease the chances of mosquito borne diseases such as West Nile Virus (WNV) spreading to humans. Since 2020, there has been one human case of WNV in Washoe County.
“The decision to scale back our mosquito abatement efforts was not taken lightly,” said Chad Kingsley, MD, District Health Officer for Washoe County. “NNPH, like many local government agencies, has been impacted by federal and state budget cuts recently, and our FY26 projections show additional challenges. While the helicopter will not be used this year for mosquito abatement, our staff will continue to work tirelessly using other methods of abatement for our community.”
NNPH says the move will save about $260,000 in Fiscal Year 2025.
NNPH says it will continue to conduct treatment on small mosquito breeding sources across the region as needed and maintain surveillance, regularly reporting mosquito population numbers and any populations that test positive for viruses. It says drones will be used for emergency spot treatments, but they are not a replacement for helicopter treatments – the average time a drone can fly for on one battery cycle is approximately 11 minutes.
Residents can report mosquito-biting activity by calling Washoe 311.
(Northern Nevada Public Health contributed to this report.)
