DALLAS -- In 2012, Dallas County took to the skies for the first time in 40 years to attack mosquitoes from the air.
That year, hundreds of people were sickened by West Nile virus and 21 died.
"We want to be proactive, and that's what this whole process is," said Zachary Thompson, director of Dallas County Health & Human Services.
On Tuesday, Dallas County Commissioners approved aerial spraying again. This time, it's before West Nile becomes a declared emergency.
Thompson said there is no timetable for when spraying from the sky could happen, and it's still unclear whether it would be targeted to one city or the entire county.
"If we continue to see high mosquito trap positives, we want to go ahead and knock down through aerial spraying," Thompson said.
One epidemiologist told News 8 while last week's numbers were alarming, they have seen a down-tick on the vector scale -- an indication there would be no West Nile virus epidemic in North Texas this year, and aerial spraying may not be needed at all.
So far this season, Dallas County has reported more than 200 positive mosquito pools. When infected mosquitoes threaten humans, Thompson said, ground spraying is simply not enough.
"The cases of West Nile that we're seeing today are becoming increasingly more severe than they have been over the past several years," said Dr. Glenn Hardesty, an emergency medicine physician from Texas Health Arlington.
Insecticides from aerial spraying aren't harmful to your health or the ecosystem, according to Hardesty. He added he has never seen a patient who has had an allergic reaction caused by the spraying.
"As a matter of fact, if they would make two passes over my house, I would be in favor of that," Dr. Hardesty said.
As long as you stay indoors while the spraying is currently happening and wait for it to dissipate, you should be just fine.