6 ms·
I grew up in Alabama, and remember a few times a summer seeing the "mosquito truck" drive by, spraying pesticide as I played in the yard. I guess it works!
by cmckn 6y ago
I grew up in Alabama, and remember a few times a summer seeing the "mosquito truck" drive by, spraying pesticide as I played in the yard. I guess it works!
- brianwawok 6y agoI don't think we do it for malaria these days, just to reduce mosquito stings? Thinking about like mosquito sprays in Chicago...
- notacoward 6y agoAFAIK it's more about West Nile and EEE, maybe Zika and even others.
- warrenm 5y agoThough, incidentally, if you reduce/eliminate mosquitos carrying West Nile, Zika, etc ... you also reduce/eliminate the ones carrying Malaria :)
- tasty_freeze 6y agoWe had those growing up in suburban Chicago too -- in my case in the 70s. The trucks would only appear at dusk. We dumb kids thought the fog was a hoot so we would jump on our bikes and chase behind the truck hooting at the novelty, breathing in who knows what chemicals. I can still remember the smell.
- nicoburns 6y ago> breathing in who knows what chemicals Probably DDT. Not thwebest of ideas!
- whyenot 6y agoIn the 1970s? No, almost all use of DDT in the US ended in 1972.
- mNovak 6y agoI seem to recall this in the Midwest as recently as the 90s
- nerdponx 6y agoMy dad told me similar stories from midcentury New York.
- whyenot 6y agoIt was probably malathion, which is an organophosphate pesticide that is considered low toxicity, although it may be a carcinogen.
- Tostino 6y agoIn FL, we still have the mosquito truck end up coming by at least every other week.