Public Health Confronts the Mosquito: Special Considerations for United States Territories and Freely Associated States
August 03, 2022
ASTHO’s earlier report, Public Health Confronts the Mosquito, describes the key components needed for a mosquito control program, including proper planning, building relationships, public support, and using the best science. Like other ASTHO reports, including Technologies for Vector-Borne Disease Surveillance and Effectively Communicating About Mosquito Control Guide, the earlier version of this guide offers strategies and techniques that, while certainly relevant and implementable in the U.S. territories and freely associated states, referred to collectively as the Island Areas (IAs), suggest approaches and programs most easily replicated in state health agencies.
This version of the report aims to highlight the unique challenges faced by IAs and to dive into the key components of a mosquito control program, as explained by Public Health Confronts the Mosquito, that are relevant to IAs. Two case studies of regional IA efforts to control mosquito-borne diseases illustrate the special workforce and resource challenges IAs face in developing mosquito control capacity, as well as how IAs have built relationships and public support.