City of Winnipeg to start mosquito fogging Sunday night

The City of Winnipeg will begin its fogging program Sunday night in an effort to get rid of a rising number of pesky mosquitoes. 

"I think over the last several years we haven't seen this kind of activity for a little while," said Thomas Bohm,  the operation and safety co-ordinator and heliport manager for the City of Winnipeg's insect control branch at a news conference Saturday. "Looking at our data for the last six years, we've been in sort of a lull, it's been dryer and we've been able to stay on top of it quite a bit more than we have in this year." 

Ten different insect management areas will be fogged with DeltaGard 20EW starting between 9:30 p.m. Sunday and 6:30 a.m. Monday morning, according to a news release from the City of Winnipeg. If there are heavy winds or the temperature dips below 13 degrees Celsius, then the fogging won't happen. 

Bohm also said people in the fogging zones should close their windows and stay indoors while the spraying happens. 

The areas being fogged Sunday and into Monday morning are as follows:

The city-wide Mosquito trap count moved from a medium to high rating in the last 24 hours, with the current count at 138, the release said. 

The city said in its release the criteria for fogging was met in the last 24 hours. Some of that criteria includes the city-wide average trap count being a minimum of 25 female mosquitoes for two consecutive nights and one or more of the quadrants of the city must report at least 100 female adult mosquitoes, according to the release. 

Bohm also said crews have been checking traps daily, an increase from a routine of once every three days. He also noted fogging wasn't needed last year. 

"We always hope that we don't have to, larviciding is always our first defence for controlling mosquitos," said Bohm. 

Bohm anticipates the entire city can be fogged in five days depending on the weather. 

But after the fogging is done, he said about a fifth of the city's remaining DeltaGard supply will have been used.

Production of the pesticide stopped in 2023 and Bohm said his department is currently doing its research and will report back to council in the fall.

DeltaGard  has been approved for use in Canada by Health Canada's Pest Management Regulatory Agency, the city's release noted. 

Residents can also apply for a buffer zone, meaning DeltaGard can't be applied within 90 metres of a specific property, but a minimum 72-hour turnaround time is required, the city's release said.