Mallinoff said if the spraying is not completed tonight, the city would resume again tomorrow night. All three towns plan to start spraying at 7 p.m. and finish by midnight. Vehicles, with flashing lights and bull horns, will make announcements on streets several minutes prior to spraying. Ken Ayars, chief of the DEM's division of agriculture, said that spraying would not occur within 300 feet of any farmland or open water, such as reservoirs and rivers. The pesticide being supplied by DEM is Sumithrin, which is also used in pet shampoos, flea sprays and household insect sprays.
Officials say it kills the mosquitoes and dissipates within minutes.
DEM and the Department of Health recommend that people avoid direct contact with the pesticide, stay inside during the spraying and for at least 10 minutes afterward, close all windows and turn off air conditioners. In Newport, the concern over the virus and spraying has affected two recreational activities. Susan Cooper, director of parks, recreation and tourism, said that the Sunset League baseball finals, yesterday, and the men's softball finals, tonight, were both postponed. Reitsma said DEM has received calls of hundreds of dead birds, but so far only these three cases have tested positive for the virus. No mosquitoes trapped by the DEM have tested positive for the virus.