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Mosquito Spraying Starts In Dallas

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City of Dallas mosquito-spraying trucks will be out in half a dozen neighborhoods tonight and tomorrow night, weather permitting.

City officials say the trucks are rolling after surveillance traps found a significant increase in the number of West Nile Virus infected mosquitoes. Spraying starts at 10pm each night in the targeted neighborhoods.

Tarrant County reported the area’s first human case of West Nile virus last week.  Officials say the patient has West Nile fever, not the more serious neuroinvasive version of the mosquito-transmitted illness. 

City of Fort Worth officialssay they had no West Nile positive mosquito reports prior to the announcement of the first case. And they have stepped up mosquito surveillance in the patient’s 76110 zip code, the neighborhood around West Berry and Hempill. 

Former KERA reporter BJ Austin spent more than 25 years in broadcast journalism, anchoring and reporting in Atlanta, New York, New Orleans and Dallas. Along the way, she covered Atlanta City Hall, the Georgia Legislature and the corruption trials of Louisiana Gov. Edwin Edwards.