Nov - Dec 2012 (Volume 12 Number 6)

BuzzWords!
Volume 12. No. 6. Nov/Dec 2012
Upcoming Events
____________________________________________
www.floridamosquito.org
President
President Elect
Vice-President
Past President
Executive Director
Web Master
Bob Betts
Neil Wilkinson
Suzanne Bartlett
Larry Hribar
Debra Parker Smith
Gregg Ross
______________
Change of address: [email protected]
or
Roxanne Connelly, Editor
UF/IFAS/FMEL
200 9th Street SE
Vero Beach, FL 32962
FMCA address:
FMCA
11625 Landing Place, North Palm Beach, FL 33408
__________
Deadlines for submissions to be included in the newsletter:
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Nathan Burkett-Cadena, Managing editor
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The mission of the FMCA is to promote effective and
environmentally sound control of disease-transmitting and
pestiferous mosquitoes and other arthropods of public health
importance, develop and enhance public interest, awareness, and
support for the control of mosquitoes, and provide for the
scientific advancement of members through our meetings,
training and education.
Florida Mosquito Control Association
Aerial Short Courses (FLY-IN)
January 15th – January 17th, 2013
Lee County Mosquito Control District
Florida Mosquito Control Association
2013 Dodd Short Courses
January 27 – February 1, 2013
Ocala Hilton
American Mosquito Control
Association
79th Annual Meeting
February 24 – 28, 2013
Atlantic City, NJ
2012 FMCA Presidential Address, by Larry Hribar!
They say the third time is the charm, and I hope that is correct, because this is
the third presidential address that I’ve written. The first was a maudlin and, frankly,
sappy recounting of the past year, filled with quotations from people much more
articulate than I. I suppose some of you might have enjoyed hearing words written by
poets and philosophers, Japanese, Argentine, Lebanese, French, and Slovene. But I
decided that was at best pretentious and at worst ostentatious. My second address
was a recounting of the impact of mosquito-borne disease on Florida’s history. I spent
many hours working on it, chasing down obscure literature references and asking a
respected historian to review it. However, I decided to leave the history to the
historians. It is interesting that I changed my address twice, because I dislike change.
Change carries with it an unspoken indictment: that which was, was wrong. For if it
were not wrong, there would be no need for change. Am I a hypocrite? My own
words and actions convict me: I decided to go back and use my second address after
all. Then I changed it to fit in the time allotted.
Why do we have mosquito control in Florida?
Nowadays, when people think of Florida they think of the attractions in
Orlando; the beaches near Panama City, Ft. Lauderdale, and Naples; the nightlife and
fashion in Miami Beach; and fishing trips from just about anywhere. It is only within
the last 60 years or so that Florida has become the nation’s year round playground.
Almost no one came to Florida in the summer prior to the 1950s. That change came
about in large part due to mosquito control. Until relatively recently, many people
considered life in Florida “unbearable”. For much of Florida’s history the few people
who lived here lived between Pensacola and Jacksonville, a disease-ridden and
poverty stricken area known as the “malaria belt”. Yellow fever and dengue were
repeated scourges. Mortality from mosquito-borne disease was an ever-present threat.
Nancy Hynes DuVal, the wife of the first governor of Florida, died of yellow fever
while visiting St. Joseph (now Port St. Joe) in 1841. Naval Surgeon Isaac Hulse, who
treated yellow fever victims in Pensacola, lost his 7 year old daughter in the outbreak
of 1846. Interestingly enough, Pensacola newspapers downplayed the incidence of
disease, believing it would be damaging to the city to report the truth.!
Between 1918 and 1924 Florida reported 900 to 1,900 cases of malaria annually,
mostly in Lafayette, Levy, Suwannee, and Taylor Counties. Florida’s mortality rate for
malaria was over 13 times that of other Southern states. In fact, malaria was so
prevalent that the Rockefeller Foundation established malaria research and treatment
stations in Tallahassee. From 1917 to 1949 deaths from malaria peaked at 429 in 1929;
and it was only in 1938 that there were less than 200 deaths reported due to malaria.
The first year in Florida’s history when there were no indigenous cases of malaria was
1948.
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During the Miami yellow fever epidemic the sternwheeler Saint Lucie was
turned into a floating quarantine facility. The sternwheeler Saint Lucie was turned into
a floating quarantine facility; after ten days the boat was permitted to leave Miami and
about 200 people fled. A more interesting tidbit hidden in the description of the
outbreak is this: in July a case of dengue fever was diagnosed in Miami; it was not
reported in the newspaper in order not to panic the public who might think yellow
fever had returned. The people’s fear of yellow fever may have been for more than
just the disease itself. Treatments that physicians of the time prescribed for yellow
fever included bloodletting, dosing with calomel and castor oil (and other laxatives
and purgatives), blistering, and enemas (sometimes with turpentine and whiskey). At
least one patient in the Miami outbreak had his feet placed into hot water, his throat
packed in ice, a mustard plaster applied to his chest, and watermelon seed tea forced
down his gullet. It is small wonder that 200 people fled the city.
The last outbreak of yellow fever in the United States occurred in 1905 in
Pensacola, New Orleans, and a few other towns on the Gulf of Mexico, including the
former city of West Tampa. The virus apparently was introduced into Florida from
Louisiana by vacationers returning from a visit to New Orleans. The fight against this
outbreak was a triumph of mosquito control. Crews went through the city, screening
houses and fumigating them with pyrethrum. Suspected mosquito larval habitats
were destroyed and citizens slept under bed nets. Interestingly enough, one medical
doctor, James S. Herron, refused to allow his house to be inspected. He claimed right
of refusal was given him under the United States Constitution. He was fined $25.00
for his troubles. !
The 1934 dengue epidemic was the last outbreak of locally transmitted dengue
in Florida until the 21st Century. The epidemic actually was far more widespread
than believed. Though it was widely thought to have been confined to Miami and
Tampa, 31 counties reported dengue cases. That same year outbreaks occurred in
Georgia, South Carolina, and Texas. During this dengue epidemic 1,500 patients were
treated in Miami. The then director of Dade County Mosquito Control, Fred Stutz,
| BuzzWords Volume 12. No. 6. Nov/Dec 2012
Yellow fever swept through the State on numerous occasions. People who tried
to flee the epidemics were stopped at county lines by armed men who forced them to
turn back. This practice was widespread and was known as a “shotgun quarantine”.
During the 1899 yellow fever epidemic in Miami the city was quarantined and guards
armed with shotguns enforced the order. Detention camps were built for persons
believed to be infected but not yet showing symptoms. People certified as immune
were given cards that permitted them to cross quarantine lines.
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(continued)!
estimated that 10% of the population had the disease. City officials were at first
reluctant to inform the public about dengue but later relented. The cities of Coral
Gables and Miami Beach organized their own anti-dengue campaigns alongside that of
the city of Miami. Delays in implementing anti-mosquito work allowed the epidemic
to spread to other areas of the State. By the time workers were trained and deployed it
was too late to contain the outbreak. Among the more interesting data recorded by the
anti-dengue workers in Miami was the fact that automobile tires served as one of the
most common habitats for larval Aedes aegypti.!
There may have been as many as 15,000 dengue cases in Miami during the epidemic.
The population of Miami was 142,955 at the 1930 census; it was 180,998 for 1935.
Interpolation gives an estimated population of 173,389 in 1934. If 15,000 cases is correct
and if the interpolated population number is a good estimate, then there was an
infection rate of 8.65% in Miami at that time. Examination of data collected by the antimosquito forces reveals two very interesting facts: 1, there was a steady decrease in
positive containers being found by inspectors; and 2, even at the end of the epidemic
the level of infestation was unacceptably high (about 40%).
What about Florida’s recent dengue outbreak in Key West and the cases in Dade,
Broward, and other counties? The appearance of dengue in Florida after so many years
may be a warning that more and larger outbreaks are in the future. Efforts to defund
mosquito control programs, and research on mosquitoes and mosquito-borne diseases
are shortsighted and put the public health into jeopardy. Remember when West Nile
virus turned up in New York City in 1999? The New York City Health Department no
longer had any mosquito control staff or equipment, nor anyone on staff that could
identify mosquitoes. It seems the battles never end. Not only are we struggling
against mosquitoes and disease, but we are also fighting the same old wars with
politicians of every level. In 1986 L.A. Williams, Director of the Division of Vector
Control for South Carolina, read an invitational address to the FMCA, in which he
discussed the benefits of mosquito control but also talked a little about the challenges
mosquito control was facing in that era from budget cuts, reductions in staff, and new
regulations being forced upon programs. How many of those same challenges
programs facing today? Former FMCA President Norman Thomas may have said it
best. “As you know, sometimes we win in Tallahassee and sometimes we lose.” !
Politics and economics are as important to mosquito control as is scientific knowledge.
How do we convince policymakers and the public that their cooperation is critical to
avoid epidemics in the future? We all know our efforts to control mosquitoes !
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can be canceled out by accumulations of containers in yards, minimal or
nonexistent community participation in control efforts, and denial of access to
properties for public health or vector control personnel. We all know that “key
premises” exist, houses that remain consistently infested with mosquitoes and
serve as foci for reinfestation of the surrounding neighborhood. Ultimately, the
responsibility for domestic mosquito control lies with the property owner. Local
governments must enforce ordinances and laws enacted for the control of
mosquitoes. It is Florida law that interference with a mosquito control operation or
destruction of mosquito control equipment or works is a crime. It is a second
degree misdemeanor punishable by not more than 60 days imprisonment or a fine
not to exceed $500.00. Shrinking budgets are another concern. There are a lot of
people who want to see mosquito control budgets reduced; cut to the bone if
possible. Yet we are witnessing a very strange juxtaposition of attitudes in this
state. Some of the same people who want programs to have their funds reduced
also demand that mosquito control personnel provide ever increasing services like
emptying the containers in their homes and on their property and operating
mosquito control trucks through their neighborhoods on a regular basis. Mosquito
control requires money and personnel and may well present our politicians with a
choice between reinfestation and reelection.!
!In the 21 years I have lived in Florida there have been outbreaks of St. Louis
Encephalitis, West Nile Encephalitis, Eastern Equine Encephalitis, dengue, and
malaria. Chikungunya, Usutu, Rift Valley Fever, and Japanese Encephalitis viruses
have moved beyond their normal geographic ranges. What is stopping them from
coming here? And lest we forget, where there is Aedes aegypti, there is danger of
yellow fever. There are limited stockpiles of vaccine and it is not feasible to
produce mass quantities on short notice. Should urbanized yellow fever become a
reality it would be a catastrophe beyond our most lurid fantasies. Mosquito
control has made a significant contribution to the public’s welfare. It is equally
certain that it will take a commitment of funds and other resources to sustain this
effort. It takes the resolve and the will of scientists, technicians, public health
workers, and mosquito control workers to do what needs to be done to reduce the
threat of mosquito-borne diseases; and it takes citizens and political leaders who
take the threat of mosquito-borne disease seriously. I hope their ears are burning
in Tallahassee. !
!It has been a challenging year, personally and for the association. There
were a lot of problems to solve, and some of them remain. It is one thing to attend
the FMCA meeting. It is another to serve on the Board of Directors. Serving on the!
| BuzzWords Volume 12. No. 6. Nov/Dec 2012
(continued)!
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(continued)!
Executive Board is another level of commitment. But nothing really prepares one for the
Presidency of this Association. It has been my good fortune to have the Board of
Directors and Committee Chairs I did. Years ago one entomologist (who worked on
cotton pests) told me that the secret to his success was that that he surrounded himself
with people who were smarter than he was, and let them handle things. I do hope that
those who served on the board or as committee chairs this past year found the experience
rewarding. There were some things I wanted to accomplish but did not. Sometimes
things do not happen and it is no one’s fault, it is just that the time is not right. We got a
few things done and I am happy that I had some small part in that. There was a lot going
on this year and if something fell through the cracks, it was unintentional. If I did not
write, call, or email you, please forgive me.!
!When I was much younger I had a copy of the first issue of OMAC, the One Man
Army Corps, published in 1974. Jack Kirby, co-creator of Captain America, the Fantastic
Four, and the Incredible Hulk, among many other characters, wrote an editorial in that
first issue that stayed with me all these years. I was able to find it on the Internet. He
wrote, “… you must be aware that the seeds of tomorrow are already germinating and
growing in our backyards. And frankly, some of the uglier buds don't look like they're
going to blossom into roses." Think of what we’ve seen happen to mosquito control in
Florida and in the United States during the past few years. I am afraid of what the future
may hold. There are people who need to wake up and consider the future impacts of the
decisions they are now making. !
!I thank all of you for entrusting leadership of your association to me. It has been a
tiring year, an exciting year, an infuriating year, and a productive year; a year of
rebuilding. But in two days, the gavel will be passed to a new President, with another
equally competent person following him as President elect. We will soon choose a new
vice president who will shortly assume the presidency. Also at this meeting the
Northeast and Southwest regions will elect new representatives, as will the
Commissioners’ Section and Industry. I know Bob Betts and Neil Wilkinson are ready to
move our association forward. Mark Cothran, Judy Avril, and Tom Unnasch are
continuing on the Board of Directors. So although I am concerned about Florida’s future,
I am also hopeful. Hope is one of the three theological virtues. hope is about refraining
from despair and the capability of not giving up. One might even say, of keeping
“everlastingly at it.” !
Thank you.!
Larry Hribar!
FMCA President 2011-2012 !
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2012 arbovirus surveillance, Florida West Nile
| BuzzWords Volume 12. No. 6. Nov/Dec 2012
EEE
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Obituary: Florida’s Mosquito Control Research Program
JULY 1, 2012 TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA
The Florida Mosquito Control Research
Program (FMCRP) succumbed after a valiant
battle against attempts to reduce the program.
In the final hours of the Florida legislative cycle
of 2012 the program succumbed after Florida
Gov. Scott vetoed the funds that had been used
to sustain the program. The FMCRP faithfully
served Florida Mosquito Control for more than
25 years during which time it provided essential
information that improved Florida mosquito
control and Florida’s ability to effectively
combat mosquito-borne diseases throughout the
state. The program was managed by the Florida
Department of Agriculture and Consumer
Services using dedicated funds of $250,000
annually from the Florida waste tire tax. The FMCRP used the funds to support specific
selected research projects that benefitted the
entire state of Florida. The supported projects
are testimony to the importance of the program
to the state demonstrating their impact on
Florida’s public health and well-being.
For
example consider the importance of the
information that was provided on the biology of
the primary Florida mosquito vectors of West
Nile virus, St. Louis encephalitis virus and
Eastern equine encephalitis virus.
This
information has been the basis of Florida’s
ability to reduce populations of these dangerous
mosquitoes. Information provided by FMCRP
supported projects on new pesticide products,
new strategies to mitigate mosquito populations
while reducing the impact of mosquito control
practices on the environment and on non-target
organisms and new biocontrol methods. The
FMCRP provided the information that was the
basis of Florida’s sentinel chicken surveillance
system, through environmental monitoring, risk
assessment, and arboviral transmission risk
prediction. This system is the envy of other
states and has successfully been Florida’s first
line of defense against mosquito-borne disease
like West Nile. The demise of the FMCRP is a disaster for
Florida! Florida’s deliberative body for
mosquito control is the Florida Coordinating
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Council on Mosquito Control (FCCMC). Each
year this Council, consisting of representatives
of Florida state agencies including the
Department of Agriculture and Consumer
Services, Department of Health, Department of
Environmental Protection, Fish and Wildlife,
several environmental groups, USDA, Florida
Mosquito Control and Florida’s state
universities, recommended the high priority
needs for information to improve mosquito
control. These needs were then used by an
independent
research selection committee
consisting of scientific experts to evaluate
projects being considered for support to ensure
that projects were providing the most
important, high priority information while also
being scientifically sound. With the demise of
the FMCRP, for the first time in more than 25
years, there are no new projects to improve
Florida mosquito control, to make it more
efficient, effective and environmentally proper.
Of equal concern, for the first time there will
not even be a discussion in Florida about the
needs for new information and research to
make Florida mosquito control better. Consider
that for the first time Florida will not solicit
proposals for support and as a result new ideas
that might benefit the state will not be heard or
discussed! FMCRP obituary, continued!
a dengue epidemic somewhere in the state five
years from now because information that could
have been available from a research project
was never obtained! What of a West Nile
outbreak in Florida of the magnitude of the
2012 eastern Texas West Nile outbreak, with
thousands of cases? A similar event in Florida
would be a public health, mosquito control,
public relations, and financial disaster. Where
does Florida expect this information to come
from? Perhaps some individual agencies or
mosquito control districts will be able to
support a few select projects. However this
means the loss of statewide consideration of
the priority of the issue, loss of the statewide
review process to ensure scientific credibility
of projects, and the loss of a statewide impact
for these projects. Florida must restore a new, invigorated,
and re-organized FMCRP immediately!
Florida mosquito control professionals have to
make this clear to Florida’s legislators who
control Florida’s budget. The health and
welfare of all of Florida is at stake.
Walter J. Tabachnick, Ph.D.
Director, Florida Medical Entomology Laboratory
Professor, Department of Entomology and Nematology
University of Florida
Vero Beach, FL
| BuzzWords Volume 12. No. 6. Nov/Dec 2012
At the most recent meeting of the
FCCMC several important issues were
discussed and the conclusion was that more
research was needed to address these issues.
At other FCCMC meetings similar conclusions
were voiced for more research to get useful
information on: 1) The impact of aerial
applications on the environment and on nontarget organisms on state managed lands; 2)
Mosquito control strategies that will be
effective to mitigate a Florida dengue
outbreak; 3) Information to allow targeting Ae.
aegypti and Ae. albopictus in different regions
of Florida; 4) Information that will improve
surveillance programs for West Nile, St. Louis,
Eastern, dengue, and for exotic viruses, like
chikungunya virus; 5) Information about new
pesticide products and how to apply them, and
new
biocontrol
strategies
and
their
effectiveness in Florida. More research is
needed! The demise of the FMCRP means that
there is little chance that this information will
be forthcoming for Florida, and little chance
there will be legitimate discussion about new
ideas to obtain this information. The FMCRP
represented the means to obtain essential
information that benefitted the entire state, not
just a region of Florida, or a few select
mosquito control districts. The FMCRP was
for all of Florida.
Many people in Florida spent long
hours working hard to use the FMCRP for
Florida’s benefit. All of the research faculty
who provided the information for mosquito
control over the years deserve Florida’s deep
appreciation. The FMCRP is gone. RIP. Mark this
moment. The impact on Florida, though not
immediately apparent, will be catastrophic.
Consider the effects on the U. S. were the NIH,
NSF or USDA subject to the same fate. No
new research, no new developments, no new
technology. Only a true Luddite would find
this appealing. How does one put a price tag
on the absence of information and new
development to keep mosquito control and
public health effective? How does one put a
price tag on the inability of Florida to prevent 9!
Your FMCA Board of Directors !
2012-2013!
2011-2012!
Officers!
Officers!
Robert Betts, President !
Dr. Larry Hribar, President !
Neil Wilkinson, President Elect !
Robert Betts, President Elect !
Suzanne Bartlett, Vice-President !
Neil Wilkinson, Vice-President !
Dr. Larry Hribar, Past President !
Dr. Roxanne Connelly, Past President !
Debra Parker Smith, Executive Director !
Shelly Redovan & Debra Parker Smith,
Executive Director !
Regional Directors and Representatives!
Regional Directors and Representatives!
James McNelly, NE Regional Rep !
Ruide Xue, NE Regional Rep !
Mark Cothran, NW Regional Rep !
Mark Cothran, NW Regional Rep !
Judy Avril, SE Regional Rep !
Judy Avril, SE Regional Rep !
Jim Burgess, SW Regional Rep !
Jim Burgess, SW Regional Rep !
Tom Unnasch, Member-At-Large !
Tom Unnasch, Member-At-Large !
Derek Wright, Industry Rep!
Tom Wells, Industry Rep !
Stephen Smith, Commissioners’ Rep !
Stephen Smith, Commissioners’ Rep!
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Winners of FMCA awards were announced at the Award Banquet of the
84th annual meeting, Tuesday, Nov. 13th, at the Sandestin Hilton!
FMCA Merit Awards: !
!Flo Jones !Dr. Walter Tabachnick
!Angela Weeks-Samanie !
Dr. Lillian Stark !
James W. Robinson Memorial Award: !
!Mike Smith!
Sherrie Yarberry Award:!
!Martin West !
Florida Mosquito Control Foundation Scholarships: !
!Eva Buckner
!Kylie Zirbel !
FMCA Presidential Citation:!
!Shelly Redovan !Dr. Roxanne Connelly !
Certificate of Recognition: !
!Joe Danford!
The Manatee County Mosquito Control District is expanding it's
Entomology Department through the hiring of an additional entomologist. The
District seeks a recent BS or MS graduate in the field of Entomology, Biology or
related scientific discipline with some background in insect taxonomy, mosquito
borne diseases, and/or mosquito surveillance. Training may be provided to a
candidate who may otherwise be lacking in formal training within a specific area.
The District seeks a highly self-motivated and intelligent individual to fill this
newly created position. The Entomology Department is supervised by a Seniorlevel Entomologist. This is a full-time position, 12-months/year with salary
commensurate with experience. Currently, the District offers paid family health
insurance for all fulltime employees. Please share this information with qualified
candidates. For further information contact Christopher Lesser, Assistant
Director of Manatee County Mosquito Control District.!
Christopher Lesser!
2317 2nd Avenue West!
Palmetto, FL 34211!
941-722-3720!
[email protected] !
| BuzzWords Volume 12. No. 6. Nov/Dec 2012
Entry-level open position in Mosquito Control !
11!
Dr. Roxanne Connelly, Editor-in-Chief
Dr. Nathan Burkett-Cadena, Managing Editor
200 9th Street SE
Vero Beach, FL 32962
UF/IFAS/FMEL
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