Kifisia: emergency spraying after West Nile case

The Municipality of Kifisia and the Region of Attica are stepping up mosquito control measures after a case of West Nile virus was recorded in the area, according to a municipal announcement cited by the local report. The emergency application of approved products against adult mosquitoes was scheduled for Tuesday 25 August, from 07:00 to 13:00, and covers a radius of at least 300 metres around the point where the case was identified. The exact location has not been made public: according to the same announcement, it was disclosed only to the relevant services, to protect the patient’s personal data.

After the spraying is completed, the Region of Attica will install a special mosquito monitoring trap in the area. The samples collected are examined in a laboratory to detect virus circulation, a process that shows whether the case was isolated or whether there is an active focus. This is not the summer’s first intervention. The Municipality’s programme, running since April, covers around 3,000 storm-water drains, the points where mosquitoes breed before reaching the adult stage. By 24 August, ten applications had been carried out by the Municipality, nine scheduled and one emergency, while eleven further interventions had been carried out by the Region within the boundaries of Kifisia. A general application had preceded this on 12 August. The distinction matters: applications in the drains target larvae, while Tuesday’s emergency intervention concerns adult mosquitoes that are already flying and has a short-term effect, which is why it is repeated whenever new information arises.

For Kifisia residents there is one point that needs attention. Kifisia is included on the National Public Health Organisation’s list of high-risk areas, but the criterion there is the area’s geomorphological characteristics, meaning the presence of parks, streams and dense greenery, and not necessarily the recording of a case. The local report, by contrast, explicitly cites a recorded case as the reason for the emergency spraying. These two pieces of information do not coincide, and the report is based on a single source, which refers to the Municipality’s announcement. Until confirmation comes from the National Public Health Organisation, the reference to a case is attributed to the Municipality itself.

The next step is the results from the monitoring trap, which will show whether the virus is circulating in the local mosquito population. The announcement does not specify when these findings are expected, nor whether a second emergency application will follow. The patient’s health condition is also not mentioned, information that is not made public in any case. More on the virus’s progress in the region and on the areas being closely monitored can be found on the Kifisia page, where local news is gathered, as well as in the report on the weekly applications in Eastern Attica. The Municipality also did not announce whether there will be a further update for residents of the streets within the 300-metre radius.