Department of Geography, University of Miami, 1300 Campo Sano Ave, Coral Gables, FL, 33124, USA.
Department of Industrial Engineering, 1251 Memorial Drive, Coral Gables, FL, 33146, USA.
BMC Public Health. 2021 Apr 8;21(1):687. doi: 10.1186/s12889-021-10724-w.
The stay-at-home orders imposed in early April 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic in various states complicated mosquito control activities across the United States (US), and Florida was no exception. Mosquito control programs are the first line of defense against mosquito-borne pathogens. The purpose of this study was to examine the capabilities of Florida mosquito programs to implement key mosquito measures during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown.
Using a self-administered online survey, we examined the capabilities of all Florida mosquito control programs (both state-approved mosquito districts, N = 63; and open programs, N = 27) at a time when the state of Florida was still under heightened awareness of, stay-at-home orders and planning a phase 1 reopening over the COVID-19 pandemic (June to July 2020). The final sample included mosquito control programs structured as the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) (n = 42), independent tax district (n = 16), municipal (n = 10), and health or emergency department (n = 5). We used descriptive statistics to summarize information about the characteristics of responding programs, their implemented mosquito control and surveillance activities. wWe used bivariate analysis to compare the characteristics of responding programs and the self-reported mosquito measures.
Of the recruited mosquito control programs, 73 completed the survey (81.1% response rate; 73/90). Of these, 57.5% (n = 42) were Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) mosquito control programs, 21.9% (n = 16) were independent tax district programs, 13.7% (n = 10) were municipal mosquito control programs, and only 6.8% (n = 5) were either health or emergency department mosquito control programs. Except for arbovirus surveillance, most programs either fully or partially performed larval (61.8%) and adult (78.9%) surveillance; most programs conducted species-specific control for Aedes aegypti (85.2%, n = 54), Aedes albopictus (87.3%, n = 55), Culex quinquefasciatus (92.1%, n = 58), and Culex nigripalpus (91.9%, n = 57).
Findings underscore the importance of ongoing mosquito control activities, and suggest that Florida mosquito control programs are vigilant and have significant capability to handle potential mosquito-borne disease threats, but arbovirus surveillance systems (laboratory testing of mosquito pools and testing of human and nonhuman specimens for arboviruses) are needed during pandemics as well.
由于 2020 年 COVID-19 大流行，美国各州于 4 月初颁布了居家令，这使得美国各地的蚊虫控制活动变得复杂，佛罗里达州也不例外。蚊虫控制计划是预防蚊媒病原体的第一道防线。本研究旨在检查佛罗里达州蚊虫计划在 COVID-19 大流行封锁期间实施关键蚊虫措施的能力。
我们使用自我管理的在线调查，在佛罗里达州仍处于对 COVID-19 保持高度警惕、居家令和规划第一阶段重新开放的时期（2020 年 6 月至 7 月），对所有佛罗里达州蚊虫控制计划（州批准的蚊虫区，N=63；和开放计划，N=27）的能力进行了检查。最终样本包括由县委员会（BOCC）管理的蚊虫控制计划（n=42）、独立税务区（n=16）、市（n=10）和卫生或应急部门（n=5）。我们使用描述性统计来总结回应计划的特征及其实施的蚊虫控制和监测活动的信息。我们使用双变量分析比较了回应计划的特征和自我报告的蚊虫措施。
在招募的蚊虫控制计划中，有 73 个完成了调查（81.1%的回应率；73/90）。其中，57.5%（n=42）为县委员会（BOCC）蚊虫控制计划，21.9%（n=16）为独立税务区计划，13.7%（n=10）为市蚊虫控制计划，只有 6.8%（n=5）为卫生或应急部门蚊虫控制计划。除了虫媒病毒监测外，大多数计划都充分或部分地进行了幼虫（61.8%）和成虫（78.9%）监测；大多数计划对埃及伊蚊（85.2%，n=54）、白纹伊蚊（87.3%，n=55）、库蚊（Culex quinquefasciatus）（92.1%，n=58）和库蚊（Culex nigripalpus）（91.9%，n=57）进行了特定物种的控制。
研究结果强调了持续开展蚊虫控制活动的重要性，并表明佛罗里达州蚊虫控制计划保持警惕，并有能力应对潜在的蚊媒疾病威胁，但在大流行期间也需要虫媒病毒监测系统（对蚊子种群的实验室检测以及对人类和非人类标本的虫媒病毒检测）。
