Did you know that Camano Island has the only mosquito control district in Northwest Western Washington?
The Cascade Mountain range from Canada in the north to Oregon in the south divides Washington State. The west side of the cascades is referred to as Western Washington and of course the other side to the east is Eastern Washington. Now, I know there’s more to Washington than East and West but for the point of this article I’ll just leave it at that. The two sides have very different climates; Western Washington is known for its rainy wet climate and Eastern Washington is known for sunny skies and dry weather. In Washington we have eighteen mosquito control districts; fourteen are located in Eastern Washington. Most of these cover only parts of their county but together represent a large area. In contrast, Western Washington has four districts; three in the south along the Columbia River and one in the north Puget Sound area. In most of Western Washington mosquito control districts are virtually unheard of. I sent out a short questionnaire to several counties in Western Washington to see what, if anything, they do for mosquito control. I heard back from several. None of those I contacted have an organized mosquito control program. Some, in the past, have done some larvae surveillance dipping, adult trapping, and dead bird monitoring.
In Whatcom County, they used to actively monitor mosquitoes with adult trapping and larvae dipping. They called their program a “West Nile Virus program” rather than a mosquito control program. They did some public outreach and education as well but now they are only able to answer questions and provide information to other resources. Public Health of Seattle and King County currently does not have a mosquito control program. However, in the past they received funding from CDC via Washington State Department of Health to establish and maintain a West Nile Virus surveillance program. Their program work group consisted of representatives from the City of Seattle PUD, all suburban cities, and the University of Washington. In addition to comprehensive educational resources, the WNV surveillance program included a website and hot line for dead bird reporting. The program also included mosquito trapping, species identification, and WNV testing. In 2009 funding was significantly reduced and the program was eventually eliminated when funding stopped. Several cities in this interagency work group did and continue to do some larviciding and/or adulticiding. Currently Public Health of Seattle and King County is providing educational resources via their website. Snohomish County, at one time, performed a mosquito survey and other activities that included dead bird monitoring and testing of mosquito pools for West Nile Virus. They are no longer performing any mosquito, bird, or West Nile virus surveillance due to budget reductions. Thurston County does not have a mosquito control or WNV program. However they do participate in the Washington State Department of health WNV dead bird surveillance program.
From Whatcom County in the far northwest of Washington to Lewis County in the south, the common theme seems to be that most have had some form of mosquito surveillance in the past. They were mainly looking for West Nile Virus and didn’t seem to be concerned with controlling the mosquitoes unless a health issue was present. In Whatcom County, “Essentially the program ceased for two main reasons: Lack of funding and the lack of evidence of disease transmission from mosquito vectors…” according to Joshua Leinbach Environmental Health Specialist II Whatcom County Health Department. This statement about sums it up for the Puget Sound area and Western Washington; lack of funding and lack of WNV so currently there is no great concern. As for future plans concerning mosquitoes it’s a wait and see attitude. On the other side; Eastern Washington and their fourteen mosquito control districts are better prepared to deal with mosquitoes and the diseases they carry.