News Briefs | October 9, 2024

Vector and Vector-borne Disease Committee Seeking Information on Arthropod Colonies Being Maintained

The MVCAC Vector and Vector-borne Disease Committee is gathering information on arthropod colonies that are being maintained, including mosquitoes, ticks, and others. Please let us know what you are rearing on this form.

Complete Form

We appreciate your help. If there are questions, please reach out to Kim Hung: khung@cvmosquito.org

Upcoming MVCAC Events

DATE CHANGED: Fall Board Meeting, October 10, 2024, 9:00 am - 12:00 pm on Zoom

Draft Agenda is available on the member-services portal here.

More details

Planning & Committee Meetings, December 2-4, 2024, in San Diego at the Holiday Inn - Bayside

Draft Agenda is available on the member-services portal here.

More details

93rd MVCAC Annual Conference, January 26-29, 2025 at the Oakland Marriott

Click here for more information

Call for Papers

Submission Deadline

EXTENDED to October 18^th

The theme for the 93rd Annual MVCAC Conference is “Vector Control- A path to a more hospitable world”. The prime topics for consideration are below but please consider submitting even if your paper does not fit into one of these topics. All submissions will be considered. The deadline for submission has been extended to October 11, 2024. Requests made following this date may not be honored and may not appear in the conference program.

Submit Here

Applications for the 2025 William C. Reeves New Investigator Award are Open!

Submissions DUE OCTOBER 11^th

Applications for the 2025 William C. Reeves New Investigator Award will be accepted through October 11, 2024. The William C. Reeves New Investigator Award, memorializing Dr. William C. Reeves, who was a renowned University of California entomologist, is sponsored by the Mosquito and Vector Control Association of California (MVCAC).The award is presented to the best scientific paper submitted and presented at the annual MVCAC conference. The Reeves New Investigator Award application differs from the MVCAC Call for Papers, if you have an additional speaking topic for the Call for Papers, please follow that application and guidelines.

View Application

Applications for the 2025 Poster Session and William E. Walton Poster Competition are Open!

Submission DUE OCTOBER 11^th

Applications for the 2025 Poster Session and William E. Walton Poster Competition will be accepted through October 11, 2024. The objective of the competition is to recognize exceptional poster presentations in the field of mosquito and vector control research and operations in honor of the late Dr. William (Bill) E. Walton who was passionate about and committed his career to entomology and vector ecology. Presentations entered to compete should be focused on basic, applied science or scientific methods, include a clear hypothesis, experiment(s), and result(s), and cannot be purely theoretical. For more information, please refer to the William E. Walton Poster Competition guidelines and rules documents. This application is for all poster submissions, interested applicants for the Walton Competition must opt-in to the competition on the application form.

Apply Here

View Guidelines

SB 1251 Signed Into Law

Great news - MVCAC’s sponsored legislation, SB 1251 (Stern), has been signed into law! Thank you to everyone who helped advocate for the bill, especially Jodi Holeman, District Manager of Consolidated Mosquito Abatement District, who came to Sacramento to testify at the committee hearings. SB 1251 compels electrical utility providers to enter into jointly-developed vector management agreements upon request of the mosquito control agency, for purposes of mosquito surveillance, treatment, and post-treatment inspections.

93rd Annual MVCAC

Conference & Exhibitor Showcase Information

Conference Page

Book Your Hotel Room

Exhibitor Prospectus

Please view our conference webpage for all information regarding registration, lodging and a draft agenda.

MVCAC Conference Hotel Scam Alert

MVCAC has become aware of companies contacting our exhibitors and possibly our members, falsely claiming to be a housing bureau authorized to secure rooms at the Oakland Marriott where the MVCAC Annual Conference will be taking place next year. We want to remind you to book your conference hotel room only through the official MVCAC booking link.

These entities may offer rooms at purportedly discounted rates. Please be aware that these are unauthorized third-party entities without any affiliation with MVCAC or the Oakland Marriott. They have no authority to make reservations on behalf of attendees.

These companies may book rooms for you at fully prepaid rates with no option for cancellation or changes, and they offer no support if issues arise with your reservation. They are essentially poachers of hotel room blocks.

The only legitimate way to reserve accommodations for any MVCAC event is through the booking link provided directly by us in partnership with the hotel. Reservations made through any other means will not be credited within our block and could potentially put us in an attrition risk.

We are actively monitoring this situation and urge you to inform us if you are contacted by such companies. Unfortunately, there is little recourse against their actions.

Booking through the official MVCAC booking link ensures both you and MVCAC are protected! Find the booking link here.

Dead Bird Call Center Season Ending October 11

The West Nile Virus and Dead Bird Call Center will transition to accepting internet reports only for the winter season on Friday, October 11th, at 12 pm. That day will mark the end of the WNV dead bird testing season for 2024. To date this year, approximately 5,488 dead birds have been reported, 1,578 have been tested, and 458 have tested positive for WNV.

Winter protocol: Beginning in the afternoon of October 11th, those calling to report a dead bird will hear a message encouraging them to visit westnile.ca.gov to fill out an online report. Online reporters will receive an appropriate automatic email response with carcass disposal advice, how to contact their local VCD, or instructions for further action if the bird is suitable and the local agency is testing. We will review each internet report and follow up as necessary.

Testing by RNASound cards: For the agencies with continued winter WNV dead bird testing who do not test in-house, RNASound cards may continue to be shipped to DART (UC Davis Arbovirus Research and Training Laboratory). Turnaround time will be longer, however, and there will be some periods of closure around major holidays.

If you have specific questions or concerns about year-round testing for your agency, please do not hesitate to reach out:

Marie Cerda

Vector Ecologist and Dead Bird Program Coordinator

California Department of Public Health, Vector Borne Disease Section

850 Marina Bay Parkway

Richmond CA 94804

(510) 412-6255 | Marie.Cerda@cdph.ca.gov

New Education and Outreach Factsheets

Now Available

The PR committee has developed two new factsheets to help MVCDs with their education and outreach efforts. One factsheet is designed to educate residents about the importance of maintaining their swimming pools to ensure they don’t produce mosquitoes. The other factsheet is for outreach to cemeteries to provide guidance to employees about how to reduce mosquitoes on cemetery grounds.

Grassroots Advocacy

Now that the legislative session is over, legislators typically spend more time in their districts. This is great time to build and enhance relationships and invite legislators to tour your district. To learn more about the importance of grassroots advocacy please check out this slide deck and you can access MVCAC’s grassroots advocacy toolkit here.

Mosquito 101 Factsheet

The PR committee has developed a Mosquito 101 factsheet for MVCDs to use in their outreach efforts. This factsheet may be helpful when meeting with new legislators or local elected officials who have limited information about mosquitoes, how they develop, and the best ways to protect against mosquito-transmitted diseases.

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