INSIDE:• Mosquito Factoids• Preventative Measures• Talk From Experts• Harrowing Tales

1.800.429.1022FIGHTtheBITE.net

T H E M O S Q U I T O A N D Y O U : W H AT Y O U N E E D T O K N O W

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• There are 3,500 species of mosquitoeson earth; 170 in North America.

• 53 different mosquito species occur inCalifornia; 24 mosquito species live inSacramento and Yolo counties.

• Only female mosquitoes bite; they needblood protein to make eggs.

• Mosquitoes use exhaled carbon dioxide, body odor, temperature andmovement to target humans, othermammals and birds.

• Female mosquitoes live from three to100 days, males from 10 to 20 days.

• The female of most species can lay 100to 300 eggs at a time, and 1,000 to3,000 eggs in her lifetime.

• Mosquitoes need water to complete thefirst three stages of life – egg, larva,pupa – that precede adulthood.Remember: No stagnant water, nomosquitoes!

• Mosquitoes can breed in old tires,street basins (storm drains), buckets,neglected pools, flowerpot bottom dishes, birdbaths, pet dishes, kiddie pools and toys, ponds –wherever there is standing water.

• Most adult mosquitoes remain withinone mile of where they were hatched.A few species range 20 miles or more.

• Mosquitoes have been around sincedinosaurs walked the earth. They’re notgoing away.

• Mosquito populations can be kept fromexploding before they become airbornethreats to public health! District effortstarget them at the larval and pupalstages.

• Mosquito bites kill more peopleon earth than any other single disease factor.

• In the U.S., mosquitoes are a vector*who spread West Nile virus, encephalitis, dog heartworm, malaria and dengue fever.

* Vector: any animal that can transmita disease to another animal or human.A mosquito is an example of a vector.

MOSQUITO 101CHECK OUT THESE INTERESTING SCIENTIFIC FACTS

MOSQUITOES OF PUBLIC HEALTH SIGNIFICANCEEncephalitis Mosquito (Culex tarsalis)

This mosquito can transmit West Nile virus, Western EquineEncephalomyelitis virus and St. Louis Encephalitis virus.Immature mosquitoes develop in wetlands, duck clubs, ricefields and irrigated crops. The adult mosquito prefers tofeed on birds and mammals. It is most active during sum-mer and fall months.

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Mosquitoes lay eggs in or nearwater, or on flood-prone soil.Mosquito eggs need water.

Water activates the hatchingprocess – the warmer the water andair, the quicker the egg becomes anadult. Some species, such as Culexpipiens, lay eggs by the hundreds,bundled in rafts; others layindividual eggs. The incubationperiod of C. pipiens can take twodays from a laid egg to hatch into a larva.

Each larva, or “wiggler,”breathes through a tube in itstail, which breaks the water

surface. The larva feeds ondecaying plant matter and otherorganic material in the water.

After seven to 14 days, thelarva transforms into a pupa, or“tumbler.” The hardened,

comma-shaped pupa breathesthrough a pair of trumpet-likeappendages on its thorax. The pupadoesn’t feed; it’s busy transforminginto an adult, which takes aroundtwo days. The pupa remains awareof its surroundings, reflexivelyflipping away from threats.

The adult emerges after thesubmerged pupal shell fillswith air until it bursts. It rests

on the water surface until its wingsdry and stiffen, then flies away. Most adult mosquitoes feed onnectar from plants, flowers orrotting fruit. But females of mostspecies need animal blood forprotein to make eggs.

Since some adult femalemosquitoes bite humans, othermammals and birds, they are calledvectors, or transmitters of diseasebetween animals and humans (otherarthropod vectors include ticks,mites and fleas). Vector control, formosquitoes, includes controllingpopulations by attacking the larvaland pupal stages, before theybecome disease-carrying adults.

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LIFE CYCLE OF THE MOSQUITO

Northern House Mosquito (Culex pipiens)The Northern House Mosquito has been known to transmit WestNile virus and St. Louis Encephalitis virus. It is common throughSacramento and Yolo counties. Immature mosquitoes develop infoul water sources such as dairy drains, catch basins and artificial

containers. It prefers to feed on birds but will readily feed on humans.This mosquito is most active during the summer and fall months.

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KEIRA DOMER:GRATEFUL TO BE ALIVEKeira Domer’s life changed the day she contracted

West Nile neuroinvasive disease – the worstknown form of West Nile virus – presumably

from a mosquito along Putah Creek in Davis. As hersymptoms proliferated, Domer sought medical treat-ment and diagnosis. But it would be a long waitbefore Domer knew the cause of her symptoms, andeven longer for her to fully recover.

Domer – named Simmons at the time – frequentlyhiked with her fiancé, Paul, alongPutah Creek after work during thespring of 2005. Domer worked inresearch at the UC Davis School ofMedicine. She and Paul had been dat-ing for about six months, and she wasplanning to attend medical school tocontinue her work with infectious dis-ease research. She never consideredthe possibility of West Nile virus inter-rupting her life.

It all started when Domer woke upone June morning in 2005 with asplotchy red rash all over her body.Within days she developed an over-whelming headache, a fever of 106degrees, vomiting, muscle pain anddizziness. She began to loseweight rapidly. On one occasion,her fiancé reported she passedout. In the course of a week, herushed her to the emergencyroom four times.

Domer recalls one doctormentioning the need to test forWest Nile virus. Apparently thetest was never performed. Thisoversight, combined with –Domer supposed – medicalstaff assumptions that WestNile virus only affects the elderly to this extent, leftDomer undiagnosed and untreated.

“No one ever mentioned West Nile again,” saidDomer. “I had no idea what was going on. I was gener-ally healthy, young, and really had no conditions thatshould have predisposed me to this kind of infection.”

After her fourth ER discharge, Domer visited herfamily physician. This doctor finally acknowledgedthe severity of her symptoms and had her admitted tothe hospital. She received IV fluids to combat hersevere dehydration and steroids to help her headache.She finally began to recover and was able to go home.

But continued recovery was slow. For two monthsher symptoms kept her trapped in her home, unableto work, drive or even perform simple tasks like tak-ing a shower. Her fiancé Paul stayed by her side,assisting her with everything.

“I had never been so sick,” she recalled. “Evenafter I started getting well, I was so dizzy I couldn’twalk without holding on to the walls. I couldn’t drivefor quite a while, which for someone as independentas I am, that was a real tough pill to swallow.”

When she felt well enough to return to work, shewas still plagued with bouts of dizziness andheadaches as well as weakness in her hands, makingher work in the lab difficult. She felt unsupported byher supervisors and coworkers, which she blames onthe fact that her illness was not labeled.

She said, “I’d gone from being very active in myresearch and very good at what I did to being com-pletely incapable of doing it anymore.”

Domer left her job of five years that fall and accept-ed a position with the UC Davis Center for Vectorborne

Diseases (CVEC). Ironically, her newjob involved surveillance of West Nilevirus. Employees of CVEC received rou-tine blood tests to track their exposureto viruses; Domer’s results showedmassive antibodies to West Nile virus,indicating massive infection by thevirus. She felt vindicated, then angry.

“I felt a sense of relief. Even thoughthere was no doubt I was horribly sick,it’s strange psychologically what put-ting a name to it can do. Then I thinkanger took over. I presented withabsolutely classic symptoms of WestNile from beginning to end. No onethought about it, and the normalchannels of testing weren’t followed.”

It was a full two yearsbefore all of Domer’s symp-toms subsided. Today, she issymptom-free and healthy.She and Paul are married,and she is studying at theUniversity of Pacific tobecome a pharmacist – acareer path change she chosebecause of her experiencebeing sick.

Domer views pharmacistsas the most accessible health

professionals and wants to educate others. She hopespeople will protect themselves with long sleeves andbug repellent. She supports aerial spraying for mos-quitoes, comparing it to the risk of a vaccine out-weighed by the risk of debilitating diseases they pre-vent.

She also urges people to be their own advocate inthe medical field. She wonders if her symptomswould have subsided sooner or been milder if shehad received treatment right away. She wonders ifher career would have changed so dramatically ifshe’d had a diagnosis.

Despite these questions, Domer is grateful for herfiancé caring for her every step of the way. She isgrateful she shows no signs of permanent brain dam-age, a common effect of the brain swelling caused byWest Nile virus. Above all, she is grateful to be alive.

THE COUNTY AND CONTROLDR. GLENNAH TROCHET AND HER RELATIONSHIP WITH MOSQUITO VECTOR CONTROL

Mosquito season in Sacramento can leave masses of peoplelittered with itchy bumps. But when it comes to mosquitoes,the bigger threat lurking is West Nile virus.

West Nile virus (WNV) is labeled by the Center for DiseaseControl as “a potentially serious illness.” While many infectedcan suffer no disease, Sacramento County Public HealthOfficer Dr. Glennah Trochet said it could also lead to death orother tragic ends.

“People in their 50s and older have a very high risk ofdeveloping a paralytic disease, or a neuroinvasive diseasewhere they have swelling of the brain or even go into a coma.”

When a doctor believes they discovered a case of West Nilefever or West Nile neuroinvasive disease, they are obligated bylaw to report it to the county. If the county confirms the virusis West Nile, then Trochet calls the Mosquito Vector Control.

“We give Mosquito Vector Control the location so that theycan go trap mosquitoes and determine whether that area hasa lot of infected mosquitoes,” Trochet said. “And then they dowhatever they need to do to control those mosquitoes.”

In 2005, what Mosquito Vector Control needed to doincluded aerial spraying. That year saw a high of 177 cases ofWNV reported, and Mosqutio Vector Control decided spray-ing was the best way to combat the virus. Despite public con-troversy over the decision, Trochet happily supported them.

Still, the aggressive treatment left some members of thepublic anxious. To make sure there were minimal side effectsof the aerial spraying, Trochet had a researcher visit every sin-gle emergency room in the county to see if there wereincreased visits for respiratory problems.

After nearly two years of research, no such cases were found.The more usual operations of the Mosquito Vector

Control, however, include tasks such as watching bird popu-lations. After mosquitoes bite birds, birds become a reservoirwhere the virus can multiply. Then when mosquitoes bite thebirds again, they are capable of infecting humans.

There are several species of birds that are especially sus-ceptible to the virus, and when large amounts of them die inan area, it can be an indicator of where WNV is moving.

“As it moved across the country it was usually preceded bythe deaths of cormorants: crows, jays and unfortunately inthe Sacramento Valley, the Central Valley magpies.”

Trochet also mentioned Mosquito Vector Control alsoworks to control the spreading of viruses other than WNV. Inthe 1980s there were a couple of cases malaria in the Deltaregion, and Mosquito Vector Control handled them efficiently.

“Mosquito Vector Control went out and sprayed around thehome of the person who had malaria and the family who alsogot the malaria,” Trochet said.“And it never spread again.”

Really, the control ofWNV and other mos-quito-spread ill-nesses is the con-trol of the mos-quitoes. Andwith an organi-zation likeMosqutio VectorControl, Trochetis happy to lendher support.

“I had never been sosick,” she recalled.“Even after I startedgetting well, I wasso dizzy I couldn’t

walk without holdingon to the walls.”

by Anna Barela

by Jeff Chinn

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WHAT YOU CAN DO:DRAIN IT!WATCH OUT FOR THESE COMMON BACKYARD MOSQUITO BREEDING SOURCES

PROTECT YOURSELF:LEARN THE 7 DsDRAIN any standing water that mayproduce mosquitoes. Today’s puddle istomorrow’s mosquito nursery.

DAWN and DUSK are times to avoid beingoutside. This is when mosquitoes are mostactive. Remember: When the sun goes up orit’s going down, that’s when mosquitoes areflying around.

DRESS appropriately by wearing longsleeves and pants when outdoors. Yes, onsome hot days, it’s hard to think aboutwearing additional clothing – but those extraclothes may protect you from mosquito bites.

DEFEND yourself against mosquitoes byusing an effective insect repellent, such asDEET (N,N-Diethyl-m-toluamide), Picaridin oroil of lemon eucalyptus. Make sure youfollow label directions! Repellents keepmosquitoes away, so they won’t bite you.

DOOR and window screens should be ingood working condition. Keep doorsclosed and make sure your screens are freeof holes. This will prevent mosquitoes fromentering your home and biting you whenyou are asleep.

DISTRICT personnel are available to addressany mosquito problem you may beexperiencing. Call the District at 1-800-429-1022or visit FIGHTtheBITE.net.

• NEGLECTED POOLS• PONDS• FOUNTAINS AND BIRD BATHS• PLANT SAUCERS• WATER BOWLS FOR PETS• WAGONS AND OTHER TOYS• LEAKY HOSES• LOW AREAS OF YOUR LANDSCAPE• ROT HOLES IN TREES• CLOGGED RAIN GUTTERS• UNCOVERED BOATS• OPEN TRASH BINS

* Be sure to inspectyour yard once aweek, and drainany standingwater!

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WHAT YOU CAN DO:USE REPELLENTS

There are lotions, sprays and towelettes. The most important thing to look for is the percentage ofthe active ingredient. Examples of active ingredients include DEET,Picaridin, IR3535 and oil of lemon eucalyptus. The higher the percentage,the longer it protects. It's also important to consider the activity. A simple walk to the park or walking your dog in the evening would require alighter repellent, whereas, if you’re going camping (where there will be otherbiting insects and ticks), [it] would require something stronger.

- Luz María Rodríguez, Public Information Officer,Sacramento-Yolo Mosquito & VectorControl District.

REPELLENT SAFETYΩ Always follow label instructions when using repellents.

Ω Apply repellents only to exposed skin and/or clothing.

Ω Do not apply repellents over cuts, wounds or irritated skin.

Ω Do not spray repellent directly on your face–spray on yourhands and then apply to face. Use repellent spray sparinglyaround eyes, mouth and ears.

Ω Children should not handle repellents. Apply repellent toyour own hands first and then put it on the child. You maynot want to apply to children’s hands.

Ω Use separate repellent and sunscreen products, becausethey need to be reapplied at different times.

Ω Do not spray aerosol or pump products in enclosed areas.

Ω After using repellents, wash treated clothing before wearing again.

Ω If you or your child suffers an adverse reaction followingrepellent use, discontinue use, wash affected areas andcontact your physician or a local poison control center.

FREEREPELLENTProtecting yourself against mosquito

bites includes using an effective insect

repellent. The District provides FREE

MOSQUITO REPELLENT WIPES to the public

and to any group that is organizing anevening outdoor event. Call the

District to get additional details.

“Find a product that you like and use it.”

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How critical are pesticides to controlling mosquitoes?The public health pesticides that we use are a compo-nent of our integrated pest management plan. We dowhat we can to detect where the mosquitoes are, andthen take corrective measures. Corrective measuresinclude managing the water, draining the water, andusing biological controls such as mosquito fish thatmay be able to feed on the mosquitoes. In the event wecan’t do that, then really the only other way of control-ling mosquitoes is using targeted pesticide applications.So they are a critical component of an integrated mos-quito management plan.

How do the pesticides that you use differ fromthose people use at home? I’ll answer that in two different ways. One, the pesti-cides we use, many of them have been formulated totarget mosquitoes or insects the size of mosquitoes. Weuse such low dosage rates; they really only go after justthe mosquitoes, as opposed to other products used athome that have a much broader spectrum of impact ona variety of insects. So that’s the main difference.

The second component of this is that at home,you’re using them as an individual who’s not necessarilytrained in how to either mix or apply the pesticides. Allof our technicians are certified through the CaliforniaDepartment of Public Health to not only understandthe impact of the pesticides they use, but then to applythose pesticides in ways that minimize any impact thatmay occur.

We have to be regulated, we have to be trained, andwe use the products according to the label directions.As an example, the average homeowner doesn’t do that.My dad may go to [a nursery] because he has ants onhis roses, and he wants to get rid of the ants. If a little ofthe pesticide is good, then a lot is probably better. So heempties the bottle without reading the label. He knowsit will kill them because it says so.

We in mosquito control are being trained and regulated, but the average homeowner is not necessari-ly trained in the appropriate use of pesticides … so putting more regulation on us as a public health agencywill not necessarily address the issue of pesticides inour environment.

So how does your agency ensure the safety of the pesticides?We try to avoid or to minimize the use of pesticides inthe first place. If we can drain that bucket of water, thenwe’ll drain it rather than applying a pesticide. We exten-sively train our technicians to go through those steps firstbefore we make those pesticide applications.

We also train our technicians in how to apply thepesticides, how to mix and formulate the pesticides sothat we use them as efficiently and as economically aswe can. And of course, the label’s the law: They’re alltrained to make sure they follow the label directions inany application they make.

There’s been proposed legislation and judicial rulingsthat would impact the use of pesticides. How couldthose rulings and decisions impact your agency?Back in the ’70s, both the Clean WaterAct and the Federal Insecticide,Fungicide and Rodenticide Act(FIFRA) were significantlyamended. At that timepesticides, whenapplied according totheir label directions,were never identi-fied as “pollutants”and regulatedunder the CleanWater Act. Becauseof litigation, prop-erly applied pesti-cides have now beenidentified as pollu-tants. This is a concernbecause it allows citizensto identify parts of theClean Water Act that theydeem us to be noncompliant withthat results in litigation … and in somecases this litigation is simply because some citizensdon’t want any spraying of pesticide, no matter whatthey are being used for.

An awful lot of natural waterways produce mosqui-toes. We have to treat those waterways. If we have totake a water sample prior and we have to take a watersample after, in each one of those areas where we mayhave to treat for mosquitoes, it can get prohibitivelyexpensive for us to be able to continue to do our job toreduce the overall mosquito problem.

We will be diverting resources to try to address theseregulations that will not provide any environmentalbenefit. The current regulations will not only impactour ability to control mosquitoes, but the public’s abili-ty to avoid being bitten by mosquitoes infected withmosquito-borne diseases.

Then, Dave, how should we balance the public needfor controlling mosquitoes while minimizing the dan-ger of pesticides? What do you recommend there?I think there should be recognition of risks vs. benefits.It’s clear, at least for public health pesticides, that we dothis based on surveillance, based on a demonstratedneed that if these mosquitoes aren’t reduced, the qualityof life and risk of disease transmission can occur to ourgeneral population.

So, in terms of the amount of pesticides thatare put into our water systems, what

percentage comes from agencieslike yours?

We know from a study done by theCalifornia Department of Public

Health that mosquito controlpublic health pesticides areless than one-third of one per-cent of all reported pesticideuse. So we’re a very smallcomponent of any pesticidesfound throughout California.

In summary, the pesticidesused by the Mosquito &

Vector Control District represent a very small com-

ponent of the total pesticidesused, and they tend to be less

damaging because they are sogeared towards mosquitoes. And you

have additional training in the proper use of pesticides, which most homeowners

would not have. That’s correct. That’s what I wish I had said.

Finally, as opposed to other uses, which may helpincrease the value of a certain crop slightly, ormake a park more beautiful, you’re using pesti-cides to prevent a major public health problem. That’s correct. You know, if it’s a crop, then that’s a littledifferent, because you’re trying to feed the world. But Ihave a problem with spraying pesticides in areas just tokeep the roses redder or the grasses greener. Boy, I thinkthere’s a huge distinction there.

PESTICIDES ARE JUST ONE COMPONENT OF AN INTEGRATED PEST MANAGEMENT PLANQ&A WITH DAVID BROWN, MANAGER OF THE SACRAMENTO-YOLO MOSQUITO & VECTOR CONTROL DISTRICT

BY JEFF VON KAENEL

IPM INCORPORATES FIVE COMPONENTS:

Public Information and Education:The District’s outreach program educatesand informs the public about mosquitoand West Nile virus prevention. Districtmessages are disseminated via extensivemedia and advertising campaigns, govern-mental affairs, community events, schooland community presentations and partnershipswith local groups. Every year the District hosts the FIGHT theBITE Design a Calendar Page Contest for K-12 students.

Laboratory & Surveillance:The District monitors mosquito activity,mosquito populations, climate changeand virus activity by testing mosquitoes,sentinel chickens and wild birds for the

presence of a virus or parasites; thisinformation helps guide all control efforts.

The laboratory also provides tick and Lyme dis-ease surveillance, identification of arthropods significant topublic health, and participates in research and special projects.

Biological Control:The use of living organisms to control aparticular pest. For example, the mos-quitofish (Gambusia affinis), whenplaced in neglected swimming pools,eats mosquito larvae before they turninto biting adults. Mosquitofish quicklyadapt, multiply and are capable of sustaining an effective control level.

Physical Control:This is achieved by manipulating the

environment to reduce mosquito breedingsites. Physical control can includepromoting effective water drainage,controlling vegetation, appropriate timing

of irrigation and encouraging mosquitoreduction best management practices in

urban, agricultural and conservation areas.

Microbial & Chemical Control:The prudent use of chemical compounds(insecticides) to reduce mosquito popu-lations. These materials are appliedwhen other methods are unable tomaintain mosquito numbers below atolerable level, or when emergencycontrol measures are needed to rapidlydisrupt or terminate the transmission ofdisease to humans and animals. All productsand application methods are approved for public health andare designed to minimize non-target effects. Larvicides targetlarvae and pupae; adulticides are chemicals that reduce adultmosquito populations.

SOME OTHER SERVICES THE DISTRICT PROVIDES:

To keep neglected or unmaintained swimming poolsfrom turning into breeding grounds for mosquitoes, theDistrict will deliver mosquitofish to pools so the fish can eatmosquito larvae, before they turn into blood-sucking adults.Mosquitofish are offered free of charge for placement inpools, ponds, animal troughs or wherever else they may be needed.

Street basins, or storm drains, are also major mosquitobreeding spots, and yard waste placed at curbside can clogthe basins. The District actively encourages people to placeyard and garden clippings in green waste containers insteadof loose on the street.

Another breeding spot is in cemeteries, where flowervases can allow water to stagnate. The District works withcemeteries to add water crystals to the vases that turn waterinto a gel that keeps flowers fresh and keepsthem from turning into mosquito nurseries. The District encouragescemetery visitors to keep the watercrystals in the vases.

Another service includes workingand dealing with yellow jackets if theypresent a public health threat.

_______________________

OTHER SERVICES INCLUDE:• FREE presentations for your classroom

or community organization• FREE home inspections if you are being

bothered by mosquitoes• FREE email notifications by ZIP code. Sign up to receive email

notifications of any adult mosquito control activities in your area.

To request any of these FREE services, visit FIGHTtheBITE.net

_________________________

REPORT A DEAD BIRD Help us protect you and your communityby reporting dead birds and squirrels. TheDistrict and the California Department ofPublic Health use dead bird reports to helpidentify increased West Nile virus activity inan area. Crows and magpies are particular-ly susceptible to the disease, so they makeexcellent early warning sentinels for virusactivity. If you see a bird that may be deadfor less than 24 hours, please call 1-877-WNV-BIRD (1-877-968-2473).

ABOUT THE SACRAMENTO-YOLO MOSQUITO & VECTOR CONTROL DISTRICT

1.800.429.1022FIGHTtheBITE.net

Established in 1946, theSacramento-Yolo Mosquito& Vector Control District isa forward-thinking agency

that employs IntegratedPest Management (IPM), a

comprehensive scientificapproach to implement

vector control strategiesand management tactics

that has earned theDistrict several honors.