A coalition of more than fifty local chefs, food industry leaders, environmental organizations, wildlife groups, and scientific experts presented an open letter to the Dallas County Commissioners earlier this week asking county officials to prioritize larviciding over adulticiding in the fight against West Nile virus.

“Other communities lead the way in innovative mosquito control through aerial and truck applications of larvicide,” noted Brandon Pollard of the Texas Honeybee Guild, one the of signatories to the letter.  

“We want to know why, if other communities are truck and aerially spraying Bti larvicide, Dallas isn’t.” he said. 

Asking for safer, more effective mosquito control the group expressed their concerns regarding the over reliance on adulticide pesticides to curtail the West Nile virus when there are safer, more effective approaches that can be applied aerially as well as by truck spraying.

As citizens, community stakeholders, business owners, environmental leaders and local health experts, the group called on county and city officials to continue to work with community leaders in prioritizing larviciding, limiting adulticiding, investigating less toxic alternative adulticides and implementing the safest, most effective strategies that will protect public and environmental health rather than put them more at risk.  

The group is calling on county and city representatives to protect the public health by considering the long term impact of neurotoxic adulticides on public health (particularly children's health); the growing problem of insect resistance and its effect on our ability to fight West Nile virus in the future; and the overall impact on the ecosystem as a whole—including pesticide runoff into our waterways, pesticide build-up in stream sediments, and the alarming decimation of the bee population that pollinates one third of our food supply. These are serious long-term effects that should be thoroughly weighed and acknowledged. 

“We appreciate the city and county’s commitment to consensus building on this issue and the willingness to collaborate with concerned citizens, experts and community stakeholders in curtailing this serious public threat,” Pollard said.

“That’s why we are asking for Dallas County and the City of Dallas to support a fully-funded, comprehensive, integrated mosquito abatement program that emphasizes source reduction, public education and the expanded application of Bti larvicide, not neurotoxic adulticides.”