CM Report - 2016 Vector Control Plan - BW v2
2016 Vector Control Annex
April 19, 2016
Good evening Mayor and members and of the City Council. My name is Ben Williamson; I am Southlake’s Emergency Management Coordinator and this Christi Upton, Southlake’s Environmental
Coordinator. This presentation will address Southlake’s Vector Control Annex and our response efforts to the threats from West Nile Virus and the Zika Virus.
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Threats
Zika Virus – Yellow Fever Mosquito
Primarily feeds on humans
Day biter (and dawn and dusk)
Monitor human activity
West Nile Virus – Southern House Mosquito
Primarily feeds on birds
Dawn and dusk biter
Monitor mosquito activity
Proactive in identifying threat
WNV
This disease is established in the United States and can be expected to remain an occurring issue. This disease is primarily spread by a specific
animal called the Southern House Mosquito. Due to its now long history in the Continental US, much research has provided Southlake staff supporting information to better predict patterns
of this disease. This helps staff to apply best management practices to assist in protecting Southlake residents’ health.
Zika
Zika is an emerging threat, and while there information
about this disease being researched in South America right now, there are many unknowns on if and how this disease will emerge in Southlake. I do want to highlight this disease is known
to be spread by the Yellow Fever mosquito, which is a completely different animal from the Southern House mosquito. The differences in the mosquitoes means staff must change our response
in some very key ways.
One of those key differences is the cycle of transmission. Because this is a human-mosquito-human transmission, unlike WNV, staff must monitor people, and whether
people are showing symptoms. In addition, there is not a mosquito test for Zika. We are monitoring the mosquito for other lead indicators of disease, including an increase in the number
of mosquitoes in an area.
Another key difference is how we respond to the disease if a person does arrive in Southlake with Zika. Because the Yellow Fever Mosquito lives very close
to people and does not travel far, the appropriate response is to backpack spray on private property.
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Southlake’s Vector Control Annex
Identifies roles and responsibilities
Sets a course of action
Scalable and flexible to account for new threats
Provides the public insight into our response operations
Southlake’s comprehensive emergency management plan is the Advanced Level which is the highest level in the State of Texas. It is composed of 24 separate, functional annexes and each
annex define roles/responsibilities and response actions for a particular preparedness need. In the case of the Vector Control Annex, it addresses our response to mosquitoes and the
viruses they help spread.
The Vector Control Annex was developed because we recognize the threat mosquitoes and the diseases they transmit pose to the City of Southlake. In an effort
to ensure Southlake is a resilient city, we updated the singular-focus West Nile Virus Response Plan to account for all current and anticipated mosquito threats which resulted in the
current Vector Control Annex whish aligns with our emergency management plan. We built the Vector Control Annex by bringing together all of the City Departments and external partners
such as Tarrant County and Denton County Public Health that have roles and responsibilities with mosquito response and walked through all of the scenarios we might encounter then outlined
our response actions prior to an actual event. This allows us to provide an efficient and effective response to fit any situation we encounter.
The Vector Control Annex is available
for public viewing and is located on the Emergency Management web pages.
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Response Efforts
Customer Service
Monitor
Control Mosquito Breeding
Address Adult Mosquitoes
The City has a four-pronged approach to address mosquito issues.
Staff offers a high level of customer service. Staff responds quickly to complaints, offers to assist residents inspect
for mosquito breeding, answers questions, and offers monitoring near areas residents are concerned about.
The City has a robust monitoring program. As mentioned previously, staff has
begun monitoring for the Yellow Fever mosquito by acquiring traps better suited for capturing this species.
The City also has a proactive source reduction program and has recently added
a map of our activities to our website for transparency to our residents.
Spraying is utilized when there is evidence of, or high threat of a mosquito spread illness in Southlake. reserved
only for a high level of risk. We do not spray based on complaints. There are concerns of pesticide-resistance in mosquitoes, similar to antibiotic resistance.
This entire approach
is known as an integrated pest control program.
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Our Message
We are here to help
Personal preparedness is key
Our plan is ready
The one thing we want to emphasize is that we are here to help. If anyone would like Southlake staff to visit their property and help identify possible mosquito breeding sources or to
talk about mosquito prevention, that is what we are here to do.
Tarrant County Public Health has established a Zika hotline which can provide the most up-to-date information about
the Zika virus from health experts and we have information from Tarrant County Public Health available in the lobby and on our website.
The other critical component is personal preparedness.
We understand that mosquitoes are out at dusk, dawn, during the day and they are everywhere – all the time. What we want to do is emphasize the importance of personal actions everyone
can take such as wearing long sleeves, using mosquito repellent with DEET and draining sources of standing water. We provide mosquito resources through our website and social media channels,
and Tarrant County Public Health has provided flyers and a banner stand for our lobby to help get information out about personal preparedness.
We have reviewed our Vector Control Annex
and made changes to ensure the City of Southlake is ready for any threat posed by mosquitoes, including the unique response actions that are necessary for response to a Zika event.
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Questions?
Ben Williamson
Office of Emergency Management
817.748.8624
Christi Upton
Environmental Services
817.748.8638
If you have any questions about our vector control efforts, please contact Ben Williamson or Christi Upton.
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