Mosquito Control Grant (MCG) Program

 

• November 16, 2020 at 8:00 AM: 2021 Mosquito Control Grant Application Opens
• November 17, 2020 at 10:00 AM: 2021 MCG Kick-off & In Your Community Webinar
• January 29, 2021 at 3:00 PM: Application Deadline (No applications will be accepted after 3:00 PM)
• March 2021: Awards Announcements
• April 12, 2021: Mandatory Awardees Training Module to Launch (more information to be distributed to awardees)

Surveillance data is critical to evaluating the potential risk of an outbreak of a mosquito-borne disease. LHDs implement mosquito surveillance programs to collect and supply mosquito samples to ODH. Those samples are tested and analyzed by ODH to estimate the risk mosquito-borne viruses pose to human health. In more recent years, the collection and submission of samples has decreased because of reduced mosquito surveillance due budget cuts made to LHDs.
To help resolve decreased surveillance activities in Ohio and to enable ODH to evaluate the potential threat posed by mosquito-borne diseases, the presence of a mosquito surveillance program was established as a key criterion that agencies must meet to qualify for grant monies. An agency must demonstrate that it has a current mosquito surveillance program in place or submit a new mosquito surveillance plan for implementation. Agencies can also utilize grant monies to implement a new mosquito surveillance plan or to augment/enhance an existing one.

At a minimum, data acquired from mosquito surveillance can assist with the following:

• Monitor mosquito population sizes
• Determine which mosquito species are present in a defined geographical area (distribution)
• Identify significant mosquito breeding grounds
• Detect the presence or absence of mosquito-borne disease (estimate the level of risks posed to human health)
• Assist in determining the most appropriate and effective mosquito control activities (effective, disease-reducing interventions)
• Assist in measuring the success of implemented mosquito control activities
• Provide the necessary data required for creating detailed maps

Using mosquito surveillance data to target mosquito control activities may provide an overall cost savings to an agency’s mosquito control program. Surveillance data can be utilized to concentrate resources by: identifying a threat to a specific geographic area, determining the chemicals required to control a specific species of mosquito, and avoiding routine spraying in areas that pose little risk.

Container breeding mosquitos prefer artificial containers such as scrap tires, plastic containers, bottle caps, glass bottles, and other solid wastes that are often found commingled in illegal scrap tire dumps and solid waste open dumps. While most of the 12 million scrap tires generated in Ohio each year are recycled or properly disposed of, many still end up stockpiled or illegally dumped. Scrap tires provide excellent breeding sites for container-breeding mosquitoes such as Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus; mosquitoes known for carrying diseases such as Zika Virus, Dengue, and Chikungunya.

Breeding source reduction refers to the removal or reduction of preferred breeding locations of various species of mosquitoes and is considered one of the most proactive, effective, and cost-efficient mosquito control strategies. Removing potential mosquito breeding sites can reduce mosquito populations and costs associated with implementing more-costly larval and adult mosquito control activities. Therefore, it is critical that mosquito control programs concentrate resources on removing potential mosquito breeding sites by hosting scrap tire take-back events, spring clean-ups, and illegal scrap tire dump abatement projects.

In some instances, potential breeding sites such as illegal scrap tire dumps have been identified but can take some time to clean-up, as they can require a significant amount of resources. In these cases, providing mosquito surveillance until these sites are abated will help evaluate the potential risk posed to human health and, also, allow for the implementation of mosquito control strategies as necessary.