Quarterly Newsletter

Fall 2024

 Busy Outreach Season

The ACMAD outreach team has been busy in summer and fall. The district team was well represented a variety of events and spoke with over 5,500 people about their mosquito questions. When the district goes to an event or classroom, there are three main takeaways for residents:

• What larvae and pupae look like
• If residents experience mosquito bites, they should contact the district
• Three ways to deal with standing water to eliminate mosquitoes

Our outreach events offer the district team the ability to speak one-on-one with county residents in person. We often learn about mosquito issues from a resident during an event, and then follow up later through a service request. We enjoy the opportunity to teach residents how to protect themselves against mosquitoes and dispel myths or falsehoods they have heard about mosquitoes. If you see our booth at an event, drop by, just like Alameda County Supervisor (and former ACMAD Trustee for the City of Hayward) Elisa Marquez did with Mosquito Control Seasonal Eric Moyung and Mosquito Control Technician Danny Sharkey.

In addition to events, we have been building and strengthening partnerships with local agencies. Recently the district presented to a group of Promotoras, or community health educators, that are engaged with the Tiburcio Vasquez Health Center in Southern Alameda County. We also partnered with the San Mateo Mosquito and Vector Control District to present to the Alameda County Health Providers monthly call to discuss mosquito-borne illnesses and the growing threat of tropical diseases spreading to Alameda County. Both presentations highlighted the importance of informing the district in case of day-biting mosquitoes and accessing district services. 

Top left image: Mosquito Control Technician Danny Sharkey and Public Outreach Coordinator Judith Pierce chat with State Assembly Representative Alex Lee about mosquitoes at the Newark Days Festival. Top Middle Image: A close up of Pleasanton Trustee Valerie Arkin and Judith Pierce at the Healthy Living Festival in Oakland. Far right top image: Shift change at the Solano Stroll, with Vector Biologist Erick Gaona, Judith Pierce, Mosquito Control Seasonal Eric Moyung and Associate Vector Scientist Miguel Barretto. Bottom left image: Eric Moyung shows mosquito larvae to young scientists. Middle image: Dr. Eric Haas Stapleton presents to over 80 health care providers in Alameda County about mosquito-borne illnesses and our response to tropical diseases. Bottom Middle image: Mosquito Control Seasonal Christian Espinoza speaks with a Spanish speaking group of community health educators, known as Promotoras in San Lorenzo. Bottom right image: Seniors looking at larvae at the Healthy Living Festival. 

Reminder- be on the lookout for invasive mosquitoes 

There have been recent detections of Aedes aegypti in two neighboring counties, Contra Costa County in North Concord and Antioch, and in Santa Clara County, in three cities, Gilroy, Santa Clara and San Jose. Both districts are deploying their expertise and resources to find where these invasive mosquitoes are breeding. At ACMAD we are getting updates about the situations in both counties and reviewing our district response to any potential invasive Aedes detections within our county. Aedes aegypti is an aggressive, day-time biting mosquito that can transmit deadly pathogens such as dengue, Zika, chikungunya and other diseases. Once invasive Aedes mosquitoes establish in a neighborhood, they are difficult to eradicate, therefore early detection is vital in fighting these mosquitoes. We encourage anyone who experiences day-time biting to contact the ACMAD office immediately.  

Award Winning for the 4th Year

For the fourth year in a row the Alameda County Mosquito Abatement District has been presented with the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting Program from the Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada. The program is “to encourage and assist state and local governments to go beyond the minimum requirements of generally accepted accounting principles to prepare annual comprehensive financial reports that evidence the spirit of transparency and full disclosure and then to recognize individual governments that succeed in achieving that goal.” 

 Green Pool Program Success!

 Thank you to the whole ACMAD team for all the work involved to find and rectify green pools in Alameda County. The Green Pools program, led by IT Manager Robert Ferdan, contracts with a local pilot to find green or unmaintained pools in Alameda County. Unmaintained pools can produce millions of mosquitoes in a short amount of time during the summer months, therefore early intervention of potential trouble areas helps the district decease future mosquito issues. In total we identified over 480 problem pools and sent notices to those houses (see picture above) and built an online verification process for owners to certify their pool is not producing mosquitoes. Years before the process to find and treat problem pools would take 3-4 months, but with the use of outreach and technology to identify green pools, we were able to cut that process time to 1 month. This project requires a lot of communication and collaboration within the ACMAD team, but it is well worth the effort.

Social Media Moment

 Do you have a pot with standing water like this? If so, check it for larvae and pupae or simply dump it out! Mosquitoes need just a few days to complete their life cycle, and this much water could hold a LOT of larvae.

WNV Update

ACMAD has found evidence of West Nile virus circulating in many cities this year, including: Alameda, Livermore, Fremont and Union City, for all locations, see the Alameda County WNV activity. Throughout the past year we have monitored traps, collected dead birds and treated all parts of Alameda County. Mosquitoes can breed all year long in the Bay Area, so preventative activities such as removing standing water, adding mosquito fish to ponds, troughs, and neglected swimming pools will reduce our risk of West Nile virus. Now is a great time to check for standing water in your yard, sump pump or gutters and drain or cover anything that will hold water longer than 4 days. This is especially true when we have days of rain followed by days with lots of sunshine. Visit our backyard checklist to see common places where mosquitoes produce.