Fighting the Bite during a Crisis: Capabilities of Florida Mosquito Control Districts during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Background: The national wide lockdown order imposed in early April 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic complicated mosquito control activities across the United States (US), and Florida is no exception. Mosquito control programs are the first line of defense against mosquitoes-borne pathogens in the state of Florida. The purpose of this study was to examine the capabilities of Florida mosquito programs to implement key mosquito measures during the COVID-19 pandemic.Methods: In a self-administered online survey, we examined capabilities of all Florida mosquito control programs during the COVID-19 pandemic (both state-approved mosquito districts (N=63) and open programs (N=27). Descriptive statistics were used to summarize information about the characteristics of responding programs, as well as the implemented mosquito control and surveillance activities. We used bivariate analysis to compare the characteristics of these responding programs and the self-reported mosquito measures.Results: Of the recruited mosquito control programs, 77 completed the survey (85.6% response rate; 77/90). 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; and 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).Conclusions: Findings underscore the importance of ongoing mosquito control activities and suggests 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.

The impact of COVID-19 on service delivery systems: evidence from a survey of United States refugee resettlement agencies

“…This study explored the capability and preparedness of US refugee resettlement agencies to provide services to clients during the COVID-19 pandemic. Like our previous study [11], we observed that US refugee resettlement agencies continued to perform despite a lack of funding. This posture can be attributed to the professional predisposition of refugee resettlement agencies to helping the underserved, regardless of capacity or funding levels.…”

“…However, the stay-at-home order necessitated by the pandemic affected the delivery of and access to healthcare not only globally [2][3][4], but also across the US (beginning March 21, 2020). In US healthcare, for example [5], the most affected service delivery systems include those that focus on children's welfare [6], psychiatric care [7], community outreach and behavioral health [8][9][10], and arbovirus surveillance programs [11]. In Ohio, COVID-19 caused a disruption of health and social services systems, and a decrease in volunteer availability for volunteer-dependent agencies [12].…”