What’s happening?
According to a Sept. 6 city news release, the positive cases came from mosquito pools located near the following intersections:
- Cliffbrook Drive and Ryeworth Drive
- McCommas Drive and Michelle Drive, the area’s second positive this season
In response to the positives, a third-party contractor sprayed adulticide—an insecticide targeting adult mosquitos that could carry the virus—around the two positives and a third area Sept. 7-8.
The third spraying area, roughly two square miles south of Main Street and north of Wade Boulevard, was treated after Collin County officials reported a potential human case near a Frisco mosquito pool in that zone.
That pool tested negative but the surrounding area was sprayed anyway in “an abundance of caution,” according to the release. As of Sept. 9, there are no confirmed human cases in Frisco.
Keep in mind
The city tests mosquito pools from May 1-Nov. 15 every year and updates its findings on a public map, which has kept a record of mosquito testing since September 2018.
Due to some pools such as the one near McCommas Drive and Michelle Drive repeatedly testing positive, the two positives confirmed on Sept. 6 are technically the city’s fifth and sixth but seventh and eighth overall for the 2024 mosquito season. They are still some of the first positive cases in Frisco since 2022 after zero mosquito pools tested positive for the virus in 2023.
Going forward
The Texas Department of State Health Services recommends residents take precaution against mosquito bites with the following steps:
- Wear: Wear long sleeves and pants outside at dawn and dusk when mosquitoes are most active.
- Apply: Use insect repellants if outside. Approved repellents contain DEET, picaridin or oil of lemon eucalyptus.
- Remove: Drain standing water that collects in bird baths, French drains, clogged gutters, saucers under potted plants and splash blocks. The mosquitoes that carry the virus can breed in stagnant water.
More information on the city’s mosquito surveillance plan and how to prevent mosquito breeding and bites can be found at friscotexas.gov/mosquitoes or by contacting the city’s Health & Food Safety Division at 972-292-5304.
