Recap
The National Association of County and City Health Officials' workshop in April 2024 helped increase the collective capacity of programs in areas affected by 2022 Hurricanes Fiona and Ian. The theme for our workshop, Managing Mosquitoes in Disaster Situations: Best Practices and Partnerships, emphasized the challenges and opportunities of managing mosquitoes in disaster situations, such as hurricanes, floods, or epidemics.
Local vector control programs in North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, and Puerto Rico affected by 2022 Hurricanes Fiona and Ian were invited to participate. See photos here.
With support from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, we brought together 65 individual attendees including subject matter experts at the federal and state level; academia; private companies; local health departments; public works departments; and mosquito abatement districts. Forty-six travel scholarships were awarded to attendees.
With the upcoming hurricane season looming, the workshop provided attendees with practical tools and knowledge to prepare for mosquito surveillance and control before the next public health emergency. It offered valuable guidance on disaster preparedness and best practices for controlling mosquito populations, fostering new partnerships, and instilling the ability to respond effectively to protect members of the community.
Attendees from Puerto Rico, North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida and collaborating partners toured the St. Johns Emergency Operation Center and Anastasia Mosquito Control District’s facility.
Together, they engaged in understanding the importance of establishing and maintaining a mosquito surveillance program and standard operating procedures to control mosquito populations after a public health emergency like a hurricane. Click here for the AMCA’s Public Health Emergency Manual.
At one point during the workshop, participants went into breakout groups based on their respective states or territories. They shared their firsthand experiences of working during hurricanes and gained insights into the intricate process of FEMA reimbursements from fellow peers.
Overall, the workshop received overwhelmingly positive feedback, with attendees finding the informative sessions on vector control, especially in relation to hurricane season preparedness, extremely valuable. The experience was described as enriching, extraordinary, and worth repeating.