As we face the beginning of mosquito season, let’s get ahead of their spread rather than reacting on a limited scale after the fact. We have friends living in Fountain Hills elsewhere who have been hit with the ravages of West Nile virus and have suffered long-term aftereffects as a result. This virus spread by mosquitoes can be deadly.

I have lived in Fountain Hills for 20 years. For the first 17 years we had virtually no problem with mosquitoes, so we could enjoy living outside any time of the day or night. I love spending multiple hours each day working in my yard. But now, with the multiplication of mosquitoes in recent years, I can’t be outside without concern that the mosquitoes I encounter might be carriers of the West Nile virus. As a nurse, I have cared for a number of patients suffering from West Nile virus and the neurological effects of this disease.

That’s the bad news. The good news is that this disease is easily preventable with timely spraying covering a widespread area experiencing mosquito outbreaks. Spraying only in a very localized area is not a rational strategy. Mosquitoes are not limited to circumscribed boundaries.

I urge our decision-makers to spray the entire town of Fountain Hills rather than being pennywise and pound foolish by restricting treatment to a small section of the town. The time and money saved by such frugality does not compensate for the cost of damage to victims’ health, or even potential loss of lives to this very serious illness.

Please spray the whole town now; the mosquitoes are here!