The Allegheny County Health Department will be treating six neighborhoods with pesticides, after samples tested positive for the mosquito-borne illness.<\/p>\n
On Wednesday, Edgewood, Garfield, Homewood, Point Breeze, Regent Square, and Wilkinsburg will be sprayed for West Nile, a type of virus that, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, can cause flu-like symptoms.<\/p>\n
From 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. the health department will have crews with a truck mounted sprayer treating infected areas with a pesticide called Zenivex E20. The pesticide is amongst the safest insecticides approved for use by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, health department officials said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe pesticide is purposefully administered in a way that reduces the amount used, only works on contact with mosquitoes, and degrades rapidly in the presence of sunlight,\u201d officials said in a news release.<\/p>\n
West Nile virus is the leading mosquito-borne disease in the United States and occurs during mosquito season, which starts in the spring and continues through the fall.<\/p>\n
Most people infected do not feel sick.<\/p>\n
Only one in five people infected with the virus develop flu symptoms and less than one percent of infected people develop serious illness. In extreme cases, West Nile can cause a severe potentially fatal neuroinvasive disease affecting the brain and spinal cord.<\/p>\n