Mosquitoes are a known public nuisance and can vector various diseases. Historically, New Orleans, LA, has long been acquainted with the burden of mosquito-borne diseases, such as malaria and yellow fever in the 20th century and West Nile virus in the 21st century. Government mosquito control awareness campaigns have been around for decades as has the use of organophosphate and pyrethroid insecticides by mosquito abatement districts. However, few data are available on public perception of mosquito control and public usage of insecticides to kill mosquitoes in New Orleans. We conducted a survey from August 2020 to July 2021 to evaluate New Orleans residents' 1) general knowledge regarding mosquito control and 2) what measures and products they use to control mosquitoes. The aim of this survey was to determine how residents contribute to backyard mosquito control by do-it-yourself or professional applications of insecticides. The survey was disseminated both online and via mail. Of the 396 survey participants, nearly all (99.48%) agreed that mosquito control is important in New Orleans because it prevents mosquito bites (30.85%), prevents mosquito borne-diseases (38.51%), and prevents nuisance mosquitoes (29.17%). More than one-third (35%) of survey participants indicated that they empty containers to reduce adult mosquitoes on their own property. More than two-thirds of the participants (69.95%) would not hire a pest management professional to spray their yard for adult mosquitoes, and only 20% of survey participants do apply a pesticide to kill adult mosquitoes on their own property. None of our findings were associated with the level of education, gender, or age of participants. This study suggests that the City of New Orleans Mosquito, Termite and Rodent Control Board educational and outreach campaigns may be an effective tool in spreading mosquito control awareness and contribute to residents' knowledge of mosquito control. The data we collected indicate that residents understand what mosquito control is and why it is important in New Orleans.

The status of insecticide resistance in Aedes aegypti is of concern in areas where Aedes-borne arboviruses like chikungunya, dengue, and Zika occur. In recent years, outbreaks involving these arboviruses have occurred, for which vaccines do not exist; therefore, disease prevention is only through vector control and personal protection. Aedes aegypti are present on every inhabited island within the Florida Keys. The resistance status of Ae. aegypti in the Florida Keys was assessed to guide knowledge of the best choice of chemical for use during an outbreak. Mosquito eggs were collected using ovitraps placed on Key West, Stock Island, Vaca Key, Upper Matecumbe Key, Plantation Key, and Key Largo. Bottle bioassays were conducted at the Florida Keys Mosquito Control District using Bifenthrin(®) 30+30. Further bottle testing using malathion and permethrin occurred at the CDC, Fort Collins, CO, in addition to molecular and biochemical assays. Levels of resistance varied between islands with different underlying mechanisms present. Resistance was seen to bifenthrin 30+30 but not to permethrin, indicating that piperonyl butoxide (PBO) or the inert ingredients may be involved in resistance. No study has been conducted to date examining the role of PBO in resistance. Key Largo was treated the most with adulticides and expressed the highest levels of alpha and beta esterases, oxidases, glutathione-S-transferases, and frequency of the V1016I knockdown mutation from all sites tested. Knowledge of localized resistance and underlying mechanisms helps in making rational decisions in selection of appropriate and effective insecticides.

When a disease outbreak occurs or there is increased threat for a disease outbreak to occur following a flooding disaster, it is important for government officials and mosquito abatement practitioners to know how to access federal financial, technical, or control activity assistance. In certain circumstances, the Federal Emergency Management Agency may provide reimbursement assistance to supplement state, territorial, tribal, or local governments' extraordinary mosquito abatement activities in areas that have received an emergency or major disaster declaration under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (Public Law 93-288). The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are the lead federal agency after a disease outbreak occurs. Government officials and practitioners should know how to access available assistance before an event occurs. Building a plan to request federal assistance, coordination with stakeholders under the National Incident Management System, and documentation of steps taken are the most effective method to ensure a smooth community response while maximizing assistance and reimbursement from federal agencies.

In 2016, four clusters of local mosquitoborne Zika virus transmission were identified in Miami-Dade County, Florida, USA, generating "red zones" (areas into which pregnant women were advised against traveling). The Miami-Dade County Mosquito Control Division initiated intensive control activities, including property inspections, community education, and handheld sprayer applications of larvicides and adulticides. For the first time, the Mosquito Control Division used a combination of areawide ultralow-volume adulticide and low-volume larvicide spraying to effectively control Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, the primary Zika virus vector within the county. The number of mosquitoes rapidly decreased, and Zika virus transmission was interrupted within the red zones immediately after the combination of adulticide and larvicide spraying.

Sylvatic plague poses a substantial risk to black-tailed prairie dogs ( Cynomys ludovicianus) and their obligate predator, the black-footed ferret ( Mustela nigripes). The effects of plague on prairie dogs and ferrets are mitigated using a deltamethrin pulicide dust that reduces the spread of plague by killing fleas, the vector for the plague bacterium. In portions of Conata Basin, Buffalo Gap National Grasslands, and Badlands National Park, South Dakota, 0.05% deltamethrin has been infused into prairie dog burrows on an annual basis since 2005. We aimed to determine if fleas ( Oropsylla hirsuta) in portions of the Conata Basin and Badlands National Park have evolved resistance to deltamethrin. We assessed flea prevalence, obtained by combing prairie dogs for fleas, as an indirect measure of resistance. Dusting was ineffective in two colonies treated with deltamethrin for >8 yr; flea prevalence rebounded within 1 mo of dusting. We used a bioassay that exposed fleas to deltamethrin to directly evaluate resistance. Fleas from colonies with >8 yr of exposure to deltamethrin exhibited survival rates that were 15% to 83% higher than fleas from sites that had never been dusted. All fleas were paralyzed or dead after 55 min. After removal from deltamethrin, 30% of fleas from the dusted colonies recovered, compared with 1% of fleas from the not-dusted sites. Thus, deltamethrin paralyzed fleas from colonies with long-term exposure to deltamethrin, but a substantial number of those fleas was resistant and recovered. Flea collections from live-trapped prairie dogs in Thunder Basin National Grasslands, Wyoming suggest that, in some cases, fleas might begin to develop a moderate level of resistance to deltamethrin after 5-6 yr of annual treatments. Restoration of black-footed ferrets and prairie dogs will rely on an adaptive, integrative approach to plague management, for instance involving the use of vaccines and rotating applications of insecticidal products with different active ingredients.

The introduction of Zika virus into the Region of the Americas (Americas) and the subsequent increase in cases of congenital microcephaly resulted in activation of CDC's Emergency Operations Center on January 22, 2016, to ensure a coordinated response and timely dissemination of information, and led the World Health Organization to declare a Public Health Emergency of International Concern on February 1, 2016. During the past year, public health agencies and researchers worldwide have collaborated to protect pregnant women, inform clinicians and the public, and advance knowledge about Zika virus (Figure 1). This report summarizes 10 important contributions toward addressing the threat posed by Zika virus in 2016. To protect pregnant women and their fetuses and infants from the effects of Zika virus infection during pregnancy, public health activities must focus on preventing mosquito-borne transmission through vector control and personal protective practices, preventing sexual transmission by advising abstention from sex or consistent and correct use of condoms, and preventing unintended pregnancies by reducing barriers to access to highly effective reversible contraception.

Insecticides based on botanical sources have taken on increased attention due to differing modes of action from current insecticides in use and the view that they may be environmentally friendly. Thymoquinone, a component in the essential oil of incense cedar heartwood, has been shown to have insecticidal action against adult mosquitoes. This study evaluated relative toxicities of thymoquinone, selected derivatives of thymoquinone, hydroquinone, and arbutin to determine if any had similar or better activity. The intrinsic toxicities of hydroquinone and thymohydroquinone were not significantly different from thymoquinone, while libocedrol and arbutin were significantly less toxic.

Insecticide resistance to organophosphates and carbamates can be the result of changes in acetylcholinesterase activity conferred by the ACE-1 mutation. Detection of this altered target site mutation is important in guiding informed decisions for resistance management. In this study we compared a competitive enzyme assay with a polymerase chain reaction assay utilizing a restriction enzyme. Both assays detected the ACE-1 mutation in Culex quinquefasciatus and agreement was 100%. The costs and benefits of each assay are presented.

In Port-au-Prince, Haiti, the status of insecticide resistance has not recently been evaluated for Aedes aegypti (L) and Aedes albopictus (Skuse) populations. No prophylactics exist for dengue, so prevention is only through vector control methods. An earthquake occurred in Haiti on January 12, 2010, with a magnitude of 7.0 Mw that devastated the area. Dengue became a major concern for the humanitarian relief workers that entered the country. Bottle bioassays were conducted in the field on adult mosquitoes reared from larvae collected from the grounds of the U.S. Embassy and from an adjacent neighborhood in eastern Port-au-Prince, Haiti. At the CDC, Fort Collins, CO, bioassays, molecular, and biochemical assays were performed on mosquitoes reared from field-collected eggs. A small percentage of the population was able to survive the diagnostic dose in bioassays run in Haiti. Mosquitoes tested at the CDC demonstrated no phenotypic resistance. A variety of factors could be responsible for the discrepancies between the field and lab data, but temperature and larval nutrition are probably most important. Knowledge of localized resistance and underlying mechanisms helps in making rational decisions in selection of appropriate and effective insecticides in the event of a dengue outbreak.

Welcome to Anaheim and the 77th annual meeting of the American Mosquito Control Association (AMCA). I would like to sincerely thank you for showing your confidence in me by making me your president this past year. I think of AMCA as the flagship association in the world when it comes to mosquitoes and associated vectors. I truly believe that status comes from what I consider to be the greatest strength of the association: the diverse group of people that make up the AMCA. As you are aware, the AMCA is made up of individuals and institutions. Membership spans a wide variety of groups: practitioners, academicians, industry, and regulators. Within each group there are still more specialized interests. For example, among academicians there are taxonomists, toxicologists, ecologists, malariaologists, statisticians, and many other disciplines. Among practitioners there are managers, biologists, inspectors, pilots, mechanics, and trustees among others. Among industry there are sales representatives, managers, product developers, and more. Each group brings a different perspective to the association and each group has different expectations as to what they need and expect from AMCA. Indeed, it is with this diversity in mind that AMCA has been trying to provide better reasons for becoming and staying a member. | Several recent initiatives have begun to provide more opportunity for members to get more value for their dues. The first of these is print on demand. The AMCA has partnered with Fairfax County, VA, to offer access to their art work for calendars, books, and more. Jorge Arias has offered their material to anyone to put their own logo on. This service will be coordinated through the printer Fairfax County uses. If you want to find out more information and see examples please stop by the AMCA booth in the exhibit hall.

Insecticidal properties of natural products may present alternatives to the use of synthetic molecule pesticides that are of diminishing effectiveness due to resistance. Three compounds, thymoquinone, nootkatone, and carvacrol, components of Alaska yellow cedar, Chamaecyyparis nootkatensis (D. Don) Spach, and incense cedar, Calocedrus decurrens (Torr.), essential oils, have been shown to have biological activity against a variety of mosquito and tick species. Although these components act as both repellents and insecticides, how they function in either capacity is unknown. Their use as mosquito control insecticides would be greatly increased if their mode of action is not the same as that of currently used commercial products. This study compared the lethal dosages for nootkatone, carvacrol, and thymoquinone by using colony strains of Anopheles gambiae Giles with known mutations at three different target sites. The altered target sites evaluated were the sodium channel para-locus mutation (L1014 F KDR) that confers permethrin resistance, the ACE-1 gene that confers organophosphate and carbamate resistance, and a gamma-aminobutyric acid receptor mutation of the Rdl locus conferring dieldrin resistance. Significant increases in lethal dose were not observed in any of the mosquito strains for any of the compounds tested compared with the doses required of chemicals with known modes of action at the mutated sites. Although the mode of action was not determined, this screening study indicates that none of these compounds interact at the target sites represented in the test mosquito strains. These compounds represent a different mode of action than existing chemicals currently used in mosquito control.