Municipalities in PR have reported an alarming increase in mosquitoes after the passage of Hurricane Maria and will be sprayed in the coming days, the Health Department announced today.

The effort is being coordinated with the help of the Department of Defense of the United States.

The municipalities that will be sprayed first are: Aguada, Añasco, Arecibo, Caguas, Canovanas, Cataño, Ceiba, Dorado, Fajardo, Florida, Guánica, Guaynabo, Isabela, Lares, Lajas, Loíza, Luquillo, Mayagüez, Moca, Rincón, Sábana Grande, San Juan, San Germán, Salinas, Santa Isabel, Toa Baja, Yauco, Yabucoa, and the islands of Vieques and Culebra.

“The plan is to sprinkle in all the municipalities of the Island where hot spots of mosquito breeding sites are identified, using as a guide the vector surveillance system. The pesticide to be used is called “Permethrin”, which has been certified as safe for use by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), “informed the head of the Dept. of Health.

On the other hand, the Assistant Secretary of Environmental Health said that, “it is important to point out that spraying only eliminates 5% of the adult mosquitoes. “