OSWEGO -- The State Health Department has not yet given approval for Oswego County to begin aerial spraying for mosquitoes infected with the deadly Eastern Equine Encephalitis virus.
County officials expected the State Health Department to approve their plan Wednesday, and had even drawn up a news release which would have alerted the public to the areas that would be sprayed. Now they don't expect a decision from Albany until Thursday.
On Tuesday, Oswego County Director of Public Health Dr. Dennis Norfleet announced the county had asked the State Health Department to make a "declaration of emergency" that would have cleared the way to kill off pools of mosquitoes where EEE had been detected. The day before, Norfleet announced there would no aerial spraying despite the weekend death of four-year-old Maggie Sue Wilcox from EEE. He reversed that decision after the discovery of new infected pools in Palermo and in the Toad Harbor area of Oneida Lake.
Once Oswego County receives the go-ahead, it could take four to five days before actual spraying could begin.
