2024 Vector Control Workshop Agenda
Click here to download the detailed agenda as a PDF.
In response to the 2022 Hurricanes Fiona and Ian, the National Association for County and City Health Officials (NACCHO), in partnership with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), is planning a 2024 Vector Control Workshop. The workshop will instruct low-resource, impacted jurisdictions on how to detect, prevent, prepare for, and respond to, mosquito-borne diseases. The focus of the workshop is to educate and train local vector control professionals on best practices for mosquito surveillance and control following a hurricane. Our goal is to provide vector control professionals with a hands-on educational workshop covering best practices for integrated vector management programs.
The workshop theme is Managing Mosquitoes in Disaster Situations: Best Practices and Partnerships to emphasize the challenges and opportunities of managing mosquitoes in disaster situations, such as hurricanes, floods, or epidemics. It also focuses on best practices and partnerships that can help vector control professionals implement and maintain effective integrated vector management programs.
Workshop Objectives
Our objective is to provide vector control professionals with a hands-on educational workshop covering best practices for integrated vector management programs in hurricane-affected regions.
- Participants will learn the essentials of implementing and maintaining a vector surveillance program, key considerations for vector control both pre- and post-hurricane, and best practices for data use and risk communication. Participants will engage with colleagues and counterparts from across the region as well as with vector-borne disease experts from the state, federal, and industry levels.
Workshop Outcomes
After attending the Vector Control Hurricane Crisis Workshop, attendees should be able to:
- Describe the key components of a mosquito surveillance program specific to local vectors and vector-borne diseases.
- Define the equipment and resources needed to establish a sustainable surveillance program.
- Describe best practices for data collection, record keeping, and management.
- Explain various methods of mosquito control and circumstances under which each control method might be used.
- Understand the basics of pesticide resistance and how to prevent it. Describe how to monitor for emergence of resistance.
- Describe the pathway for using vector surveillance data to make decisions to decrease human risk for vector-borne diseases.
- Understand what to expect when a hurricane hits. Draft or update a disaster response plan. Explain eligible expenses that vector control programs can submit for reimbursement (e.g., funding/federal assistance) post-disaster.
- Understand the procedure on how to collaborate with an Emergency Operations Center to plan for and respond to disasters and associated mosquito control activities.
Workshop Modules
Mosquito Surveillance – Review of key components of a mosquito surveillance program. Demonstrations and hands-on exercises following best practices for monitoring, collecting, and identifying vectors of public health importance. Unique practices necessary for post-hurricane.
Mosquito Control – Review of current best practices in mosquito control strategies. Introduction to, and demonstration of, various mosquito control equipment and practices that are most useful post-hurricane.
EOC Demonstration – Learn practical knowledge to support effective mosquito control after a hurricane including collaboration, data-driven decisions, and timely action.
Coordinating the Response – Learn about federal and state requirements to effectively prepare for, coordinate, and manage response on the ground immediately following a hurricane.