It's Best to Be Prepared: Lessons Learned from the Past Prepared Georgia for Hurricane Michael

Onsite assessments for mosquito larval habitat sites are critical after a hurricane makes landfall. Due to lack of forward assessment activities and the uncertain path of Hurricane Irma, it was difficult to determine what areas would be most affected, making it challenging to determine the availability of Department of Public Health Environmental Health Strike Team members from unaffected areas. However, lessons learned from assessing the public health response to Hurricane Irma (2017) helped improve the response to Hurricane Michael (2018).

Georgia's Collaborative Approach to Expanding Mosquito Surveillance in Response to Zika Virus: Year Two

With the continued increase in international travel and immigration to Georgia, the Department of Public Health (DPH) continued its mission to prevent and respond to Zika virus (ZIKV) transmission.

METHODS

We analyzed surveillance data from the DPH to compare the geographical distribution of counties conducting surveillance, total number, and overall percentage of mosquito species collected in 2016 and 2017. Mosquito surveillance in 2017 was mapped by county and species using ArcMap 10.2.0.

RESULTS

From 2016 and 2017, mosquito surveillance increased from 60 to 159 counties (165% increase). A total of 145,346 mosquitoes were trapped and identified in 2016 compared to 152,593 in 2017 (5.43% increase). There was a difference in the type of mosquito species found by year. Some species collected in previous years were not collected in 2017, while other species found in 2017 were not previously collected during mosquito surveillance. Also, certain mosquito species were found outside of their expected geographical range.

CONCLUSION

The continued collaborative response to ZIKV by the DPH allowed a continued increase in its surveillance program. Existing and new partnerships continued to develop with military and local health departments to expand and share data. This additional surveillance data allowed DPH to make sound public health decisions regarding mosquito-borne disease risks and close gaps in data related to vector distribution.

Georgia's collaborative approach to expanding mosquito surveillance in response to Zika virus: a case study

Zika virus (ZIKV) was declared an international public health emergency by the World Health Organization on February 1, 2016. Due to the known and estimated range of the ZIKV mosquito vectors, southern and central US states faced increased risk of ZIKV transmission. With the state of Georgia hosting the world's busiest international airport, a climate that supports the ZIKV vectors, and limited surveillance (13 counties) and response capacity, the Department of Public Health (DPH) was challenged to respond and prevent ZIKV transmission. This case study describes and evaluates the state's surveillance capacity before and after the declaration of ZIKV as a public health emergency.

METHOD

We analyzed surveillance data from the DPH to compare the geographical distribution of counties conducting surveillance, total number, and overall percentage of mosquito species trapped in 2015 to 2016. Counties conducting surveillance before and after the identification of the ZIKV risk were mapped using ArcMap 10.4.1. Using SAS (version 9.2) (SAS Institute, Inc, Cary, NC), we performed the independent 2 sample t test to test for differences in prevalence in both years, and a χ² analysis to test for differences between numbers of species across the 13 counties. In addition, weighted frequency counts of mosquitoes were used to test (χ²) an association between major mosquito vector species and 7 urban counties. Lastly, using data from 2012-2016, a time-trend analysis was conducted to evaluate temporal trends in species prevalence.

RESULTS

From 2015 to 2016, surveillance increased from 13 to 57 (338% increase) counties geographically dispersed across Georgia. A total of 76,052 mosquitoes were trapped and identified in 2015 compared to 144,731 (90.3% increase) in 2016. Significant differences between species (P<.001) and significant associations (P<.0001) between 7 urban counties and major mosquito vectors were found. Significant differences in prevalence were found between several species and year highlighting species-year temporal trends.

CONCLUSIONS

The DPH collaborative response to ZIKV allowed a rapid increase in its surveillance footprint. Existing and new partnerships were developed with the military and local health departments to expand and share data. This additional surveillance data allowed DPH to make sound public health decisions regarding mosquito-borne disease risks and close gaps in data related to vector distribution.