189 - Reactive Vector-Borne Disease Policy in the US Creates Opportunities for Improvement

Abstract: Vector-borne disease outbreaks repeatedly occur within the U.S. and surrounding territories. Dengue, eastern equine encephalitis, and West Nile outbreaks have occurred in recent years, and the next future outbreak is a matter of when, not if. Climate change, expanding urban environments, and insecticide resistance create favorable conditions for vectors to thrive and increase the chance they will come into contact with humans. To protect Americans, mosquito abatement programs manage mosquitoes and other vectors in the environment; however, these programs often rely on public funding to perform the necessary actions such as surveillance, management, and research. A recent investigation exploring federal grants awarded between 2008-2020 for vector control related efforts found that funding follows emerging/re-emerging vector-borne disease and decreases once the threat becomes endemic or subsides. This talk will discuss the implications from the boom-bust cycle of reactive federal vector control policy, progress made in recent years to correct this trend, and what actions policy makers and constituents can make to address the current national inadequacies in vector-borne disease policy and infrastructure.