News Briefs
August 21, 2015
IN THIS ISSUE...

Jobs

Interested in a career in mosquito and vector control? Check out the MVCAC Job Board at www.mvcac.org

 

Have a Job or RFP to post to MVCAC.org?  

Requests to post job listings (no more than 500 words in length) should be submitted to the webmaster at kandosca@amgroup.us.

 
Do you have important news to share about your district or mosquito and vector issues?

If you would like your news to be included in the MVCAC News Briefs, please send press releases and/or links to relevant news articles to mvcac@mvcac.org
Mailing Address:
1 Capitol Mall
Suite 800
Sacramento, CA 95814

Call for Proceedings Papers

Click here to view the guidelines for contributions

 

It is time to begin preparation of the Proceedings and Papers of the 83rd annual conference of the Mosquito and Vector Control Association of California. There were many excellent presentations at the annual meeting in January in Monterey, and I am hopeful that the authors will choose to submit their presentations for publication in the Proceedings. Attached to this e-mail are the guidelines for submitting manuscripts; please read and follow these instructions in preparing your papers. Manuscripts should be submitted electronically and simultaneously to me (janwash@berkeley.edu) and Rachel Hickerson (RHickerson@amgroup.us). 

 

The deadline for manuscript submission has been extended to August 28th.

Call for Photos: This Year in Mosquito Control
MVCAC needs your district photos!

We're looking for MVCAC member districts to submit 1-5 pictures that exemplify something that you've done as part of your 2015 mosquito control efforts. This could be surveillance, control, outreach, media interviews, etc. Please supply a brief caption with each photo you submit.  

Photos will be put together in a MVCAC Legislative Day slide show to give legislators a picture of mosquito control. If every agency submits just one photo we will have over 60 slides!

Please send your photo(s) to Sarah Spencer: sspencer@amgroup.us

MVCAC Summer Meeting Minutes and Reports
The MVCAC Summer Meeting minutes and post meeting reports have been posted on the agendas and minutes page on mvcac.org.

You can also access this document by clicking here.

Thank you!

MVCAC Fall Meeting

October 29 and 30th, 2015

(Trustee session on October 28th in the afternoon)

Embassy Suites San Diego
601 Pacific Highway, San Diego, CA 92101

 

Rooms:
Click here to book a room
or call 619-239-2400
Rate $142, this rate is "prevailing federal per diem" and subject to change.


 

Click here to view the meeting schedule

 

For more information about this meeting, please click here

 

**Please note: This is the first meeting to use the new policy of a first night's deposit taken at time of reservation as well.

MVCAC 2016 Annual Conference
February 28th - March 2nd , 2016
1209 L Street
Sacramento, CA 95814
 
Rooms:
  • Single/Double Occupancy- $140 per night
  • Triple Occupancy- $165
  • Quadruple Occupancy- $190
  • Room Rate Cut-off: February 5, 2016

For more information about this meeting, please click here

MVCAC Corporate Member Fiscal Status Reports

 

Note: Please disregard the message below if you have already submitted your fiscal status report, or if you have been in touch with MVCAC staff regarding your fiscal status report.


 

New this year, we are collecting all fiscal status information online through the MVCAC member portal.  Instructions on how to login to your district's portal account are below.  Once this updated fiscal information is received, we will send you your 2015-16 dues invoice.

  1. Login using your district login information.  This is the main login that was provided to managers a couple of months ago, if you need it resent please email us at mvcac@mvcac.org.
  2. Once logged in, please click the link titled: "Create Corporate Members Fiscal Status Report 2015-2016"
  3. Enter the information requested: Total Actual Expenditures, Capital/Fixed Asset Expenditures, Operational Expenditures, and your name.
  4. You will then see a confirmation page, please review the information you entered and then click "Save Changes"
  5. After clicking "Save Changes" you should receive a confirmation email.  A dues invoice will be mailed to you by the MVCAC staff shortly after you submit your information.

We know many districts have not closed their books yet, so please submit your fiscal status reports when you are able.  We're hoping to have all dues payments received by September 1, 2015.
 

Please feel free to contact the office if you have any questions or if you need any assistance logging in to or navigating the portal.  Thank you for supporting MVCAC!
Nominations for Honorary Membership or Meritorious Service are now being accepted!
Eligibility:
Those eligible for Honorary Membership is any person who has rendered exceptional, distinguished service in the interest of mosquito or vector control in the state of California.  Meritorious Service can be conferred on any member or non-member who has made special and significant contributions to the field of mosquito or vector control in the State of California.
 
In order to be considered for either award and placed on the ballot out to corporate members, at least 5 letters of recommendation from 5 different districts need to be submitted to the MVCAC office NO LATER THAN September 14 th . Ballots will be mailed out following the September 14 th deadline and the announcement will be made at the Fall Board of Directors meeting in San Diego on who has been granted these awards.
 
Letters may be emailed to the MVCAC office:  rhickerson@amgroup.us or bachermann@amgroup.us. Or via mail to 1 Capitol Mall Suite 800, Sacramento CA 95814.
 
Please let us know if you have any questions!
Saint Louis Encephalitis and West Nile Virus Activity Continue in Coachella Valley
INDIO, CA, AUGUST 19, 2015: Due to the elevated activity of Saint Louis encephalitis virus (SLE) and West Nile virus (WNV) in the east Valley, the District has scheduled ultralow volume (ULV) aerial applications to lower the mosquito abundance and reduce the risk of disease transmission to humans by infected adult mosquitoes. The first aerial ULV will take place Thursday, August 20 between 5:00 and 5:30 a.m. in the east Valley from Johnson Street to Colfax Street just south of Avenue 71, and a second aerial application is scheduled Wednesday, August 26, weather permitting. 

In the last week, SLE was detected in eight mosquito samples southeast of Mecca, bringing the total number of SLE-positive mosquito samples in the Coachella Valley to 14 this year. Five mosquito samples also tested positive for WNV last week in Indian Wells, Palm Desert, and La Quinta, bringing the total number of WNV-positive mosquito samples to 86 this year. 

Read more
Coming to America: The story of chikungunya
Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons
Even compared to other globetrotting viruses like SARS, chikungunya is a bit of a jet-setter. It first emerged from obscurity about ten years ago, thanks to an outbreak that began in East Africa and has since spread quickly around the world.

Chikungunya, a virus transmitted by the Aedes aegypti  mosquito, gets its name from the excruciating joint pain it causes. In the Makonde language of East Africa,chikungunya  means "that which bends over", since many people who are infected are in too much pain to sit up. Although researchers have documented small, localised outbreaks going back several hundred years, chikungunya first emerged as a serious viral threat in the 1950s and 1960s, causing outbreaks in Africa, India and South-east Asia before it disappeared again.

Read more
Using Sweet Grass To Repel Mosquitoes
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) - This is the time of year mosquitoes most often transmit  the West Nile virus.

But there is an all-natural way to prevent mosquito bites by using sweet grass.

Native Americans have used sweet grass for centuries for ceremonial purposes and weaving. Some hung sweet grass in their dwellings and wore it in their clothing to keep mosquitoes away.

Now the U. S. Department of Agriculture says a chemical in sweet grass works as well as DEET insect repellent.

Read more
How Effective is Mosquito Repellent? Testing out DEET in the Thick of Mosquito Season
Lubbock, TX

A reporter for EverythingLubbock.com put a DEET based repellent to the test Wednesday. She went to Texas Tech's Institute for Environmental and Human Health, where researchers regularly feed lab-based mosquito populations with blood. 

The reporter put her left arm, untreated, into a glass case full of hundreds of Asian Tiger mosquitoes (Aedes albopictus). Asian Tiger mosquitoes can be found in the Lubbock area and carry the chikungunya virus. After the reporter left her arm in the case for four minutes, around eighty mosquitoes came to blood-feed on her arm. 

Read more
West Nile Virus Dead Bird Testing and Hotline

West Nile virus dead bird testing and the WNV Dead Bird Hotline began on April 15, 2015. 

 

Live calls are being answered (1-877-WNV-BIRD) and online reports are being responded to (www.westnile.ca.gov). 

 

Agencies can bypass the message options by calling the agency line at (510-412-4601). This will connect you to the hotline operators. If you need to enter a dead bird report and obtain a dead bird number, please use the Gateway.