Dededo, Guam – The Pacific Island Health Officers’ Association (PIHOA) is proud to announce that a Pacific Vector Training on Mosquitoes will be held from May 2 through 6, 2022 at the Pacific Island Regional Vector Laboratory located at the Guam Department of Public Health and Social Services, Division of Environmental Health (DPHSS-DEH) in Guam.
Funding provided by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) through the Pacific Southwest Center of Excellence in Vector-Borne Diseases, is supporting the project entitled, “Strengthening Vector Management in the U.S. Affiliated Pacific Islands.” The project aims to increase the knowledge and decision-making capacity of vector control staff in the U.S. Affiliated Pacific Islands, which include American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), the Republic of Palau, and the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI).
Representatives from the University of California, Davis, Walter Reed Biosystematics Unit (WRBU), and PIHOA will train more than 20 vector control supervisors and staff from the Guam DPHSS-DEH, CNMI Commonwealth Healthcare Corporation’s Bureau of Environmental Health, and the Republic of Palau Ministry of Health and Human Services, Division of Environmental Health.
Five days of training with combined lecture, field, and laboratory activities will be conducted on mosquito surveillance and laboratory methods (i.e., identification, sorting, pinning, preservation, insecticide resistance insect testing, and rearing); public health entomology; data entry; data analysis for decision-making; and safe application of pesticides.
“PIHOA is committed to collaborating with our partners, such as CDC, Pacific Southwest Center of Excellence in Vector-Borne Disease, and the Walter Reed Biosystematics Unit, to strengthen our USAPI vector programs and protect lives against mosquito-borne diseases such as dengue, chikungunya, and Zika,” stated Dr. Limb Hapairai, PIHOA’s Regional Medical Entomologist.
