A Multiagency Approach to Reducing West Nile Virus Risk in Richmond County, Georgia, in 2015

The Richmond County Mosquito Control program's mission statement is to incorporate strategies of integrated mosquito control management that are effective, practical, and environmentally safe and protect the health of Richmond County residents, as well as promote public education, in order to prevent large mosquito populations and the diseases that they transmit. To this end, the program coordinates efforts with other county agencies in order to provide better service. This is a small program with limited resources, so in an effort to provide better integrated mosquito management, the mosquito control program and the Phinizy Center for Water Sciences joined efforts to trap mosquitoes at sites across the county, identify the species, and send the mosquitoes off for viral testing. These data help determine locations of disease-carrying mosquitoes so the county can more efficiently control the mosquito populations and reduce the risk of West Nile virus transmission.