Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 121

Introduced by Senator Wieckowski

March 28, 2016

Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 121—Relative to West Nile Virus and Mosquito and Vector Control Awareness Week.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SCR 121, as introduced, Wieckowski. West Nile Virus and Mosquito and Vector Control Awareness Week.

This measure would declare the week of April 17, 2016, to April 23, 2016, inclusive, as West Nile Virus and Mosquito and Vector Control Awareness Week in California.

Fiscal committee: no.

WHEREAS, West Nile virus is a mosquito-borne disease that
can result in debilitating cases of meningitis and encephalitis and
death to humans, horses, avian species, and other wildlife; and

WHEREAS, In 2015, West Nile virus resulted in 45 human
deaths in California, triple the number from 2013, and 737
individual cases in 31 counties; and

WHEREAS, Adequately funded mosquito and vector control,
disease surveillance, and public awareness programs, coupled with
best management practices on public and private lands, are the
best ways to prevent outbreaks of West Nile virus and other
diseases borne by mosquitoes and other vectors; and

WHEREAS, Mosquitoes and other vectors, including, but not
limited to, ticks, Africanized honeybees, rats, fleas, and flies,
continue to be a source of human suffering, illness, and death, and
a public nuisance in California and around the world; and

WHEREAS, Excess numbers of mosquitoes and other vectors
spread diseases, reduce enjoyment of both public and private
outdoor living spaces, reduce property values, hinder outdoor work,
reduce livestock productivity, and have a negative impact on the
environment; and

WHEREAS, As a result of the threat mosquitos posed to
California’s economic development and the health of its citizens,
the Legislature enacted the Mosquito Abatement Districts Act,
just over a century ago, in 1915; and

WHEREAS, Professional mosquito and vector control based
on scientific research has made great advances in safely reducing
mosquito and vector populations and the diseases they transmit;
and

WHEREAS, Established mosquito- and vector-borne diseases,
such as plague, Lyme disease, flea-borne typhus, and encephalitis,
new and emerging vector-borne diseases, such as hantavirus and
babesiosis, and travel-associated mosquito-borne disease threats,
such as dengue, chikungunya, and Zika, can cause illness and
sometimes death in California; and

WHEREAS, Two invasive mosquito species in California, Aedes
albopictus, the Asian tiger mosquito, which was detected in
southern California in 2011, and Aedes aegypti, the yellow fever
mosquito, which was detected in central and northern California
in 2013, and in southern California in 2014, are posing new public
health threats due to their capability to transmit potentially deadly
or debilitating diseases, such as dengue, yellow fever, and
chikungunya, diseases that are not currently transmitted in
California, as well as other encephalitis-causing viruses; and

WHEREAS, These invasive species of mosquitos are responsible
for transmitting the Zika virus, an infectious disease that has seen
growth in Latin America over the past several months. Public
health officials have recommended that pregnant women, in any
trimester, avoid traveling to areas where Zika virus transmission
is ongoing; and

WHEREAS, Mosquito and vector control districts throughout
the State of California work closely with the United States
Environmental Protection Agency and the State Department of
Public Health to reduce pesticide risks to humans, animals, and
the environment while protecting human health from mosquito-
and vector-borne diseases and nuisance attacks; and

WHEREAS, Best management practices, emphasizing
nonchemical approaches, have been developed to guide mosquito
control that can significantly reduce mosquito populations for new
development and on state and private lands; and

WHEREAS, The State Department of Public Health maintains
information on how to eliminate risks from vectors at both
www.cdph.ca.gov and www.westnile.ca.gov, which the public is
encouraged to review; and

WHEREAS, The public’s awareness of the health benefits
associated with safe, professionally applied mosquito and vector
control methods will support these efforts, as well as motivate the
state and the public to eliminate mosquito and vector breeding
sites on public and private property; and

WHEREAS, Educational programs have been developed to
include schools, civic groups, private industry, and government
agencies, in order to meet the public’s need for information about
West Nile virus, other diseases, and mosquito and vector biology
and control; and

WHEREAS, Public awareness can result in reduced production
of mosquitoes and other vectors on residential, commercial, and
public lands by responsible parties, avoidance of the bites of
mosquitoes and other vectors when the risk of West Nile virus and
other disease transmission is high, detection of human cases of
mosquito- and vector-borne diseases that may otherwise be
misdiagnosed for lack of appropriate laboratory testing, and the
formation of mosquito or vector control agencies where needed;
and

WHEREAS, Public awareness can result in action to provide
adequate funding for existing mosquito and vector control agencies
or to create control agencies in areas where there are no existing
controls; and

WHEREAS, West Nile Virus and Mosquito and Vector Control
Awareness Week will increase the public’s awareness of the threat
of West Nile virus and other diseases and the activities of the
various mosquito and vector research and control agencies working
to minimize the health threat within California, and will highlight
the educational programs currently available; and

WHEREAS, The Mosquito and Vector Control Association of
California has designated the week of April 17, 2016, to April 23,
2016, inclusive, as West Nile Virus and Mosquito and Vector
Control Awareness Week in California; now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the Senate of the State of California, the Assembly
thereof concurring, That the Legislature hereby declares the week
of April 17, 2016, to April 23, 2016, inclusive, as West Nile Virus
and Mosquito and Vector Control Awareness Week in California;
and be it further

Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit a copy of
this resolution to the Governor, the State Public Health Officer,
and the author for appropriate distribution.