Last week, the Academy decided to allow a private contractor hired through the town of Andover to spray the woods surrounding the athletic fields with a mosquito pesticide; however, the spraying was cancelled because of the cool and wet weather. The spraying was planned as part of an effort to prevent the spread of a mosquito-borne virus, Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE), among humans. The virus usually appears for 2 or 3-year periods in a cycle that repeats every decade. As of now, the Andover Public Health Department has no future plans to reschedule the spraying. The Public Health Department had intended to use the pesticide Anvil, a compound designed to eliminate mosquito populations in wooded areas. Andover’s concern over EEE or West Nile viruses began in July when some mosquitoes carrying EEE were discovered to the north of Andover, according to Thomas Carbone, Andover’s Public Health Director. The Andover Townsman reported last week that the Northeast Mosquito Control District, (NEMCD) recommended that the Academy spray the borders of the fields, in a process known as “barrier treatment.” NEMCD’s jurisdiction includes many towns in eastern Essex County. The nearest reported incidence of the EEE is in the Methuen-Haverhill area, about 15 minutes from Andover. According to Mr. Carbone, “this area of the state is a hotbed for mosquito-borne viruses.” Other common locations for these viruses are well south of PA, such as Plymouth, Mass. According to the Public Health Department, the decision to try to spray the pesticides around Phillips Academy was an exercise in prudence. Mr. Carbone commented that the spraying would have been necessary due to, “the way the EEE virus had been traveling south from New Hampshire – as it creeps closer, we try to be cautious.” While the decision to spray was made for the safety of the students, the pesticides may have had other ramifications besides eliminating mosquitoes. According to Dr. Hagler, Instructor in Biology, the use of pesticides may not have been justified, had they been sprayed. Since no mosquitoes carrying the EEE or West Nile viruses were found around PA, the use of pesticides could have destroyed a possibly harmless part of the ecosystem and easily caused damage to the ecological balance in this area. Dr. Hagler said, “It’s also an ecological issue: when you’re spraying pesticides to destroy those mosquitoes, it’s usually a good idea to have some sort of concrete reason to do the spraying…the pesticide is not going to be killing just mosquitoes — you may be doing damage to all sorts of other animals, even if the pesticide breaks down.” Dr. Hagler sees pesticide spraying at PA as a possibly unnecessary addition to the relatively widespread effect of pesticide use: “This [spraying] is being done all over cities and towns in Massachusetts — it’s a cumulative thing.” Pesticide Anvil would have posed a slight chance of health risk to students. However, the Academy would have sprayed a minimal amount. According to Mr. Carbone, “There is a bit of risk with whatever we use.” Mr. Carbone also noted that the pesticide Anvil is of low toxicity and would have broken down into non-harmful compounds within hours of spraying. Since frost kills the mosquitoes, and thus the EEE and West Nile viruses, the town decided not to reschedule the spraying of Anvil. In the spring, the town may spray larvicide to kill mosquito larvae. Mr. Carbone said that larvicide is much less intrusive to the environment than Anvil. Currently, the EEE virus appears to be under control in Andover. No carrying mosquitoes have been found in the town.
