Mosquito Control in Albany with Community Assistance!

Dear Albany Residents and Business Owners,

Alameda County Vector Control Services District is responsible for mosquito control in the city of Albany, and to enhance our effectiveness, we need the eyes and ears of Albany residents to help in this challenge.

There are two urgent situations concerning mosquitoes in our area:

West Nile Virus (WNV) had a tremendous resurgence last year throughout the state of California, where there were 801 cases of WNV (1 in Alameda County), with 29 fatalities! This is the highest human case level since 2005 and the highest level of fatalities since 2004, when there were also 29 fatalities. All told, there have been 174 fatalities and 4,802 human cases in California since the 2003 WNV introduction into California. This only tells half of the story, because there are two forms of this infection; West Nile Fever, and the neuroinvasive form. The fever cases are bad enough and could put a healthy person out of commission for several weeks, but the neuroinvasive form (encephalitic) is similar to having a stroke and some people never fully recover. West Nile Virus is considered a “preventable” disease, by personal behavior—using mosquito repellants, and avoiding the dawn and dusk mosquito feeding hours, as well as effective mosquito control program.

We have several adult mosquito surveillance traps spread in a grid throughout the city. We deploy the traps every week, and the mosquitoes trapped, if in sufficient numbers, the mosquitoes are tested for West Nile Virus. This ongoing program has been in effect for over a decade. We also have the historic locations of recurring mosquito development sites that we check for mosquito larvae on a regular basis and are modified to either remove the standing water, or treat with biorational larvicide.

Luckily, Albany is not a “hotbed” of mosquito populations due to the relatively mild climate, but this does not mean that WNV is unlikely, and diligence and vigilance are still necessary. We need the reporting of mosquito larvae noticed in standing water, as well as reports of needless standing water sites to stay proactive. Much of the situation is compounded by the continual drought in California, with our paltry rainfall and residents conserving water and storing what little rainfall we receive to water their yards and garden. It actually take only a small amount of standing water for a couple weeks to start a mosquito problem, so please report these situations, or take action yourself. Our district can provide mosquito fish for ponds and water features in yards, as well as in temporary water holding sites.

Another component is the “West Nile Virus Dead Bird Surveillance System” coordinated by the California Department of Public Health (CADPH). Since mosquitoes feed regularly on birds, they are often the first victims when WNV is introduced into an area. In fact, this introduction is usually by a viremic bird that enters an area and the local mosquitoes feed on this bird, and then they feed on local birds, passing on the virus. So dead birds reported to our office or better yet, to the Dead Bird hotline: http://www.westnile.ca.gov/report_wnv.php greatly helps and there is a toll-free phone number: 1-877-968-2473. This dead reporting by the public is a very valuable tool in mosquito surveillance.

The preceding WNV situation is unfortunate enough without the considering the newly introduced (invasive) species of mosquito—Aedes aegypti (the yellow fever mosquito) found in Menlo Park, just across the bay from Albany. This mosquito is an efficient vector of Yellow fever, dengue fever, as well as chikungunya, and we need to monitor closely for this mosquito in case it arrives in Albany, so we can take effective measures for eradication. WE DO NOT have Yellow Fever, Dengue Fever, or Chikungunya in our area. Consider this advisory from CADPH: “In 2014, 126 cases of dengue and 119 cases of chikungunya were reported in California, all with a history of travel to areas where transmission of those diseases was occurring. Of the reported cases, 67 dengue and 103 chikungunya cases had a history of travel to Latin America. The number of reported California dengue cases with a history of travel to Mexico has increased in the last two years, 64 in 2013‐2014 compared with 17 in 2010‐2012.”

To tie this all together, if we have this introduced and efficient vector of these diseases (Aedes aegypti), and people who return to California infected with one of these diseases and a local mosquito feeds on them while they are viremic, this mosquito can then pass on the disease!

Aedes aegypti is a day-biting mosquito, quite different from the other mosquitoes we have detected in Albany, most of which are evening or early in the morning biters. These mosquitoes adapt well to breeding in small containers, such as cans, bottles, and jars that contain water—this often makes locating the breeding site difficult, but lends to public involvement towards prevention. Dumping and draining containers, hopefully into your garden bed, so this rare fluid has some good usage.

Please report any mosquito problems to us at Alameda County Vector Control, either at our website: acvcsd.org, or by phone, 510-567-6800, or to order mosquitofish. Catching a mosquito for species identification can give our Vector Control Biologist a lead as to where the mosquito may be reproducing, and save valuable time knowing which species they are looking for. Prevention is the key; dumping and draining are preferable over the use of safe biorational larvicides!

Sincerely,

Daniel Wilson

Community Relations Coordinator

510-567-6826

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