Belgrade Mosquito Spraying: 12 Locations Today
From 3:30 to 7 a.m., City Sanitation crews treat 12 locations across Belgrade. Here is exactly where, plus advice as West Nile fever cases climb.
Live near Ada Ciganlija, Kosutnjak or Topcider? Sometime tonight or early this morning, you might hear a slow-moving vehicle leaving a white mist behind it. That is the mosquito spraying, and it runs from 3:30 to 7 a.m.
Crews from the Ecology and Environmental Improvement Sector at JKP Gradska Cistoca (Belgrade’s public sanitation utility) are treating adult mosquitoes on public land across the city today, Thursday, August 27. They work with both ground equipment and water-based equipment, meaning vans on the streets and boats on the water.
Which locations are on the list today
For August 27, the list covers 12 sites:
- Ada Ciganlija
- Makis
- Pecani
- Rucka
- Ostruznicka Forest
- Sremacka Forest
- Orlovaca cemetery
- Ranzirna Stanica
- Mala Mostanica
- Kosutnjak
- Topcider
- Vrcin
This marks the second night in a row that crews have gone out. The day before, on August 26, in the same 3:30 to 7 a.m. window, treatment covered Grocka along the river, Brestovik, Vinca along the river, Ritopek, Zaklopaca, Put za Vrcin, Vrcin, Zuce, Beli Potok, Ripanj, Lesce and Novo Groblje.
Is the spray safe, and when does the operation get canceled
The thermal and cold fogging agent has been registered by the Ministry of Environmental Protection and appears on the Provisional List of Biocidal Products. That means it passed review before it was ever cleared for use on public land.
The operation does not go ahead no matter what. City Sanitation said:
The treatments will be carried out only if weather conditions allow, meaning no rain, optimal temperatures and wind strength.
So if it rains this morning, or the wind picks up, the operation gets pushed back.
What you can do in your own yard
While the crews handle public land, part of the job falls on you:
- put up a physical barrier on windows, a mosquito screen or net
- empty every container of standing water in your yard, plant saucers, old tires, barrels
- if you have a septic tank, treat it with an approved product
- if you keep bees, take steps to protect your hives these days, since the treatment is also carried out near green areas
If you notice far more mosquitoes than usual at a given location, report it to the City of Belgrade’s Service Center at 11-0-11, weekdays from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Why this is happening right now
We reported a few days ago that the number of West Nile fever cases in Serbia had doubled within a week. The Batut Institute announced on August 24 that 11 cases had been registered in Serbia between June 1 and August 23, 10 of them the neuroinvasive form of the disease. Among them were seven men and four women, with an average age of 66.2. The cases came from six districts: three in South Banat, two each in Belgrade, South Banat and South Backa, and one each in Sumadija and West Backa.
The main carrier of the virus is the Culex pipiens mosquito, which is well established in Serbia, and the transmission season here typically runs from June to November. Serbia is not alone on this either: ten European countries have reported 618 cases so far this season, most of them in Italy, 311, and Greece, 157.
That is why treatments like this morning’s are not cosmetic. Fewer adult mosquitoes on the ground means fewer bites, and a lower chance that any one of us ends up as the next case on Batut’s list.
