MVCAC News Briefs - October 30, 2015

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

VISIT OUR WEBSITE

Mailing Address:

1 Capitol Mall

Suite 800

Sacramento, CA 95814

MVCAC December Planning Meeting

December 3-4, 2015

Hyatt Regency

1209 L Street

Sacramento, CA 95814

Hotel Room rate is $160 plus taxes per night, click here to book a room.

Click here for more information.

MVCAC Corporate Member Fiscal Status Reports Reminder

We are still missing some fiscal status reports from MVCAC member districts. If you have not yet submitted your fiscal status report, please do so ASAP.

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.

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
.
Once logged in, please click the link titled: "Create Corporate Members Fiscal Status Report 2015-2016"
Enter the information requested: Total Actual Expenditures, Capital/Fixed Asset Expenditures, Operational Expenditures, and your name.
You will then see a confirmation page, please review the information you entered and then click "Save Changes"
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.

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!

District Managers and Regional Reps - We Need Your Input On Issue Experts

The MVCAC PR Committee is in the beginning stage of developing an MVCAC Statewide Speakers Bureau. The purpose of this tool is to have an inventory of experts on a variety of issue areas that can speak proactively and reactively on issues that impact MVCAC and its members. These individuals need to be well educated on priority issues and have the discipline to speak intelligently and responsibly on behalf of MVCAC.

We would like your input on third party experts that your district typically uses, individuals who are not affiliated with our MVCAC, which provides an additional level of credibility when responding to inquiries. Additionally, we would like to ask for recommendations on who you use as in-house experts on the subject matters below.

Subject Matters Include:

Bed bugs
Climate change
Emerging diseases
Endangered species
Feral bees
Invasive species
IVM
Pesticide use and non-target impacts
Pesticide use and chronic disease impacts
Surveillance programs
Tick-borne diseases
West Nile virus and survivors
Wild bird species

If you have recommendations on individuals MVCAC can potentially add to the Statewide Speakers Bureau, please send their names, background information and a brief description of how they've been useful for your district in the past to: Jenny Dudikoff @ jdudikoff@ka-pow.com

Thank you and we are eager for your feedback.

Proposed MVCAC Mosquitofish/Aquaculture Workshops (Survey)

The MVCAC's Mosquitofish and Biocontrol Subcommittee is considering a mosquitofish and/or aquaculture workshop to be held at the upcoming 2016 MVCAC Annual Meeting. Please complete this brief survey, so we may review your feedback to best determine anticipated interest, attendance and topics to be covered.

We look forward to providing mosquitofish and aquaculture resources that will best serve your agency needs. Thank you for your time

Sincerely,

Mike Saba

MVCAC Mosquitofish and Biocontrol Subcommittee Chair

2016 William C. Reeves New Investigator Award Application Open

Applications for the statewide William C. Reeves New Investigator Award will be accepted through Tuesday, December 1, 2015.

The William C. Reeves New Investigator Award, memorializing Dr. William C. Reeves, who was a renowned University of California entomologist, is sponsored by the Mosquito and Vector Control Association of California (MVCAC). The award is presented to the best scientific paper submitted and presented at the annual MVCAC conference.

Please click here for more information.

84th Annual Conference First Call for Papers & Posters

The Mosquito and Vector Control Association of California (MVCAC) will hold its 84th Annual Conference on February 28-March 2, 2016 at the Hyatt Regency Sacramento. You are invited to submit a paper or poster for presentation at the conference.

This presentation should be related to mosquitoes or other vectors, the disease organisms they transmit, or their surveillance and control. Presentations may be of research results, the development and testing of new methods, equipment or products, education, community outreach and the adaptation or development of new technology relating to vector research, surveillance or control.

If you are interested in presenting a paper or poster, please click here for more information.

MVCAC 2016 Annual Conference

February 28th - March 2nd , 2016

Hyatt Regency Sacramento

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

Booking Website:
https://resweb.passkey.com/go/2016MV16

For more information about this meeting, please click here

LA Times - Aggressive nonnative mosquitoes spreading across state carry disease risk

It has the makings of a science-fiction film: the threat of deadly disease, a metropolis oblivious to the impending danger and, of course, extraordinarily hostile insects.

That's the scenario California health officials say they're facing as they track the arrival of nonnative mosquitoes that can carry infectious diseases.

The insects are quickly spreading across Southern California - aided by the statewide drought - and have the potential to transmit dengue, chikungunya and yellow fever, all of which kill thousands of people around the world each year.

Chickens in Simi Valley test positive for West Nile virus

SIMI VALLEY, Calif. - Blood samples from two sentinel chickens in Simi Valley have tested positive for West Nile virus, officials said Monday.

Ventura County health officials said the samples were collected during the second week of October.

They were the six and seventh sentinel chickens to test positive for the virus in Ventura County in 2015. Five chickens tested positive for the virus in Moorpark earlier this year. Sentinel chicken flocks are maintained by agencies across the state to help detect West Nile and other mosquito-borne viruses. They carry immunities that protect them from getting sick even when they test positive.

West Nile Virus increases in San Bernardino

West Nile Virus (WNV) has increased in San Bernardino county.

Recently cases of people being tested positive for the virus have been from cities around the same area, such as Chino and Yucaipa.

"The viral disease-transmitting, non-native Aedes albopictus, native to tropical and subtropical Southeast Asia, was identified in the San Bernardino County city of Upland on Oct. 15 and confirmed that same day by the state's insect-borne disease specialists," said San Bernardino County Public Health Department spokeswoman Claudia Doyle.

Oregon teen contracts bubonic plague, 16th case in US this year

Oregon state health officials and the Crook County Public Health Department confirmed yesterday a human plague case in a Crook County teen. This is the 16th human plague case reported in the US in 2015.

The teenage girl is believed to have acquired the disease from a flea bite during a hunting trip near Heppner in Morrow County that started on Oct. 16. She reportedly fell ill on Oct. 21 and was hospitalized in Bend on Oct. 24. She is recovering in the hospital's intensive care unit.

Federal, state and local health officials are investigating the relatively rare illness. No other persons are believed to have been infected.

Vampires in The Sheets: The Terrible, Anxious Dread of a Bed Bug Infestation

Like all good scary stories, this one begins on a dark, cold night.

One January evening earlier this year, I was lying in bed reading when out of the corner of my eye, I saw a tiny brown bug crawling towards me. Instinctively, I slammed my hand down and killed it.

When I drew my hand back, it had blood on it. Why, I thought, would I have blood on my hand after killing what I assumed was merely a carpet beetle?

But then I thought about the hives I had been getting for weeks, the ones a doctor had advised me were probably caused by some unknown environmental allergy. I thought about the strange red and black stains I had found dotting my white duvet cover on laundry day but promptly forgot about.