Update: DOH To Answer West Nile Questions on Thursday

Update, Wednesday 12 p.m.: Community Board 7 has some specific questions in the canon for city officials regarding the process of aerial larviciding, namely, the impact that the spray has on the area's human, animal and plant population. 

"I would hope to avoid [spraying], but we'll understand the necessity for it should it arise tomorrow," said Jeremy Laufer, District Manager for Community Board 7. 

Laufer added that though the area has been treated with larvicide for the past several years, it has been nearly a decade since the city's health department has explained the process to the CB 7 community. 

The city generally applies larvicides to pools of standing water, the preferred breeding ground for mosquitoes. According to the DOH website, there are several varieties of larvicide, all of which have been approved by the Environmental Protection Agency.

Nevertheless, plenty of people still have misgivings about the environmental impact of filling the air with chemicals. Last year, for failing to give adequate notice that it would be dousing Prospect Park with Anvil, a type of pesticide. 

"We don’t need to poison our environment, kill off the mosquitoes’ natural predators, and cause long-term health problems,” Mitchel Cohen, the Coordinator of No Spray Coalition, told Patch last year. “And that’s exactly what these spray trucks are going to do.” 

Though several Brooklyn neighborhoods are scheduled to receive larvicide treatment, so far, Windsor Terrace is not one of them. 

Original Post, Aug. 20: —but what does that mean for the health and safety of those who live here? Residents will have a chance to get their questions answered by Department of Health officials on Thursday at CB 7's Health and Mental Hygiene Committee meeting.

According to its website, the DOH has yet to schedule any aerial larvicide sprayings in the area, the usual measure employed by the city to combat the mosquitoes responsible for spreading the virus.

A spokesperson for DOH told Patch last week that the city determined its spraying locations on a case-by-case basis.

The virus was first reported in the area by the DOH on Aug. 3. In addition to Windsor Terrace, it has also been found in Dyker Heights, Greenwood Heights and Starrett City.

The meeting will be held on Thursday, Aug. 23 at 4 p.m. in the CB 7 board room at 4201 4th Ave.