Alameda County Mosquito Abatement District
City of San Leandro 2023 update
3.6.2023
Ryan Clausnitzer, MPA, REHS
General Manager
www.mosquitoes.org
Overview
• Formation & authority of Alameda County MAD
• Organization & funding
• Mosquitoes of Alameda County and where they grow
• Integrated vector management
o Requests for service from the public
o Community engagement & research
o Monitoring and reporting mosquito abundance
o Current mosquito control practices
o Upcoming technologies
Tax-funded mosquito control in SF Bay Area because of…
Aedes dorsalis
Aedes squamiger
120 years ago
Civic, scientific, and business leaders organized mosquito districts Women in the San Rafael
Improvement Club were foundational
in organizing their mosquito control
district during 1902
Eliza A. Neale, the first President, served for 12 years 107 years ago:
1915 Mosquito Abatement Act of California
Governor Hiram Johnson
1915 Mosquito Abatement Act of California
Authorized government agencies to “Take any and all necessary or proper actions to prevent the occurrence of vectors and vectorborne diseases.” o Gave power to tax, form boards, and abate (impose fines for mosquito control)
California Health and Safety Code
We have never charged or fined
Independent Special District of Alameda County
MAD was formed 92 years ago
Farm tractors
repurposed by civil
engineers to modify
marsh habitat and limit
mosquito growth
ACMAD Board of Trustees
14 appointed by their City Council + 1 County-at-Large Trustee Dr. Robert Beatty
Berkeley Tyler Savage
Alameda Robin Lopez
Albany
Shawn Kumagai
Dublin
George Young
Fremont
Courtney Welch
Emeryville Subru Bhat, President
Union City
Victor Aguilar, President
San Leandro Cathy Roache, Vice-President
County-at-Large
Elisa Márquez
Hayward
Steven Cox
Livermore
Dr. Jan O. Washburn
Oakland
Eric Hentschke
Newark
Valerie Arkin
Pleasanton
Hope Salzer
Piedmont
Funding mosquito
control
$4.9
million
ad valorum
property tax
special tax & benefit
assessment
OPEB
interest earned
0.0009% of assessed
property value
18 full-time employees
with 2-5 seasonal
employees and/or
interns
Obligate aquatic
phase of mosquito
life cycle
From Marin-Sonoma Mosquito and
Vector Control District Nikon’s Small World: 2019
University of Florida
only female mosquitoes bite
males have feathery antenna female antenna are thinner
adapted from www.theverge.com/
Mosquito producing habitats in Alameda County
Salt marsh
Storm water canals
Tule marsh
Creeks and
seepages Ornamental ponds
Unmaintained swimming pools
Native mosquitoes
Mosquito producing habitats of concern
Utility vaults Tires
Plant saucers Bromeliad plants
Invasive mosquitoes
Grow in very
small amount of
water
Arboviruses spread by mosquitoes in CA
invasive Aedes
native to CA
Dengue, Zika, Yellow
fever, Chikungunya
WNV, SLEV
• Data and institutional
knowledge used to enact
effective & sustainable
mosquito control
• Proactive and responsive
actions
Integrated mosquito
management
Proactive ongoing efforts Responsive incidentdependent efforts Community
Engagement
Assessing
Integrated Mosquito
Management
Knowledge-driven approach to reduce
mosquito abundance
Maintain water circulation channels in
marsh habitats
Mosquito fish: Gambusia affinis
• We deliver them for free
• Love to eat mosquito larvae!
• Relatively small
• 1.5 – 3 inches
• Live in shallow fresh water
• Can live in low oxygen water
• Small ornamental ponds
Controlling mosquito larvae
Insect-specific toxin from
bacteria
Insect growth
hormone
Surfactant
Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis (Bti) Methoprene
BVA-2
Larvicide application methods
Larvicide applications by drone
Where larvicide is applied in Alameda County
Most larvicide
applications occur in
marsh habitats that abut
the SF Bay
2021
Ultralow volume pyrethroid
insecticide
4 grams / square mile
Our very last resort for controlling infected adult mosquitoes Credit: Justin Sullivan / Getty with Contra Costa MVCD
Requests for
service
830
Service Requests during
2021
In-person response within a day
Assessing mosquito abundance &
arbovirus prevalence
Adult mosquito
abundance monitoring
Power BI dashboard for 15 days (auto-updated)
Testing trapped mosquitoes for
arboviruses in our lab using
quantitative RT-PCR
Multi-agency dashboard to view high resolution data
Community engagement with the public
• Leverages a “show me” & discovery mindset
• Motivates an involved public
Cal State East Bay Students
Oakland Garden Preschool
Alameda Watershed Symposium
Community engagement with the public
Community engagement with
partner agencies & facilities
• Coordinate with land and
facility managers
− MOU with US FWS and EBRPD
• Engage public agencies
− Cooperative agreement with CDPH
• Public & private lands
− Mosquito Abatement and Vector
Control Districts Principle Enabling
Act (Health and Safety Code §2000
et seq.)
Engaging with universities & research
institutes
non-biting males are
released to mate with
invasive female mosquitoes
no new female
mosquitoes are produced
3 sterile insect techniques (SIT) to reduce abundance
of biting & disease-spreading female mosquitoes
sterile insects for Aedes control
sterile insects for Aedes control
irradiated
bacteria-infected
genetically engineered
Invasive Aedes mosquitoes are not yet in Alameda County 1 Irradiate male mosquitoes
X-Rays sterilize male mosquitoes
25,000 sterilized at a time
Use for any species (unpatented method)
One-time equipment purchase
https://www.radsource.com/sterile-insect-technique/
Grow 100,000s of mosquitoes
Must separate male from females
Reduced mosquito health
2 Wolbachia bacteria infection
Male mosquitoes naturally spread bacteria
Multi-generation impact
Reduced mosquito reproduction and virus growth
EPA-registered non-GMO option
Must separate male from females
Identify / replace correct Wolbachia strain
Commercial provider = recurring cost https://mosquitomate.com/pricing 3 Genetically modified
Female mosquitoes eliminated as immatures
EPA approved & monitored trial in Florida
Eggs-in-a-box simplifies adult release
Public hesitancy to GMO
Recurring cost
Thank you.
Ryan Clausnitzer, MPA, REHS
General Manager
[email protected]
23187 Connecticut Street
Hayward, CA 94545
www.mosquitoes.org
510.783.7744