The Colusa Mosquito Abatement District recently hosted a visit with two delegates from Tanzania and Ghana Africa.
Both representatives work for their National Mosquito and Malaria control programs in their countries.
The California Department of Public Health, Vector Borne Disease Section was able to take the delegation on a tour to many of the much larger mosquito control districts, during their visit to northern California, said Dan Kiely, Colusa Mosquito Abatement District manager.
Kiely said the purpose of their visit to the Colusa district was to exchange notes and ideas on different mosquito control methods. The Colusa district and the representatives from Africa exchanged ideas and thoughts on their overall missions, to provide control measures to minimize disease threats from mosquito-borne illnesses. The envoy also wanted to see how a smaller mosquito control district can provide very effective control measures, with a smaller operating budget.
Personnel from the Colusa Mosquito Abatement District went over their surveillance and control strategies with the representatives and took them on a tour of some local wetlands and agricultural areas within the Colusa district.
This visit provided both the representatives from Africa and the Colusa Mosquito Abatement personnel a look at the different approaches towards mosquito control and how funding for this control is achieved and how to use the funding effectively to maximize mosquito control efforts.
“It’s important to have visits like this, to get different perspectives and points of view on mosquito control,” Kiely said in a news release. “We hope to take what we’ve learned and find ways to use this information to better each other’s organizations.” ■