NEIL JOHNSON | The Tampa Tribune

CHIP OSOWSKI | News Channel 8

BRANDON - A disease carried by mosquitos has Hillsborough County health officials taking action this morning.

Two people have died from Eastern equine encephalitis in the past few weeks, one of them an infant in Brandon. Today, planes carrying mosquito-killing chemicals will spray 23,000 acres within the boundaries of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard on the north, South Parsons Avenue on the west, East Bloomingdale Avenue on the south and South Forbes Road on the east. The spraying is supposed to begin before dawn and end about 7:30 a.m.

In addition, workers will spray standing water during the day to kill mosquito larvae and trucks will spray at night.

The Brandon baby's death from EEE was confirmed on Wednesday. A woman in Odessa died of the mosquito-borne disease July 1. After the woman's death was confirmed last week, aircraft sprayed nearly 70,000 acres north of Waters Avenue and west of Bruce B.