190 - Vector Surveillance and Control Capacity at the Local Level

Abstract:

Objective: This session summarizes the findings from the 2020 Vector Assessment, conducted by the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) in coordination with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The results from the 2020 assessment are compared to the results from the 2017 assessment to track trends in mosquito surveillance and control capacity at the local level over time.



Methods: This is the second iteration of NACCHO’s nation-wide assessment of local vector control programs. The survey instrument was programmed in Qualtrics and sent to a database of 1,664 verified local vector control programs, which includes local health departments as well as mosquito control districts and other vector programs that may be housed in different branches of local or tribal governments. The response rate was 30 percent. The survey was fielded between November 2020 and January 2020 and the concurrent spike in the COVID-19 pandemic at that time is likely to have lowered the overall response rate given the added strain it placed on local public health departments, which comprised a majority of respondents. Analysis of the results was completed in Stata.



Results: Most programs reported capacity for routine surveillance (68%), adulticiding or larviciding (98%), and routine vector control (79%). However, a majority of programs (72%) were still considered “needs improvement” given the lack of capacity for pesticide resistance testing. Encouragingly, between 2017 and 2020, mosquito surveillance and control capacity improved across most of the ten measures assessed, including nearly double the proportion of programs reporting capacity for pesticide resistance testing in 2020 as compared to 2017.



Conclusions: Mosquito surveillance and control capacity at the local level has improved between 2017 and 2020. Significant gaps remain with regard to pesticide resistance testing. In addition, there remain opportunities for improvement with regard to making evidence-based treatment decisions.