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MOSQUITO AND VECTOR MANAGEMENT DISTRICT

of Santa Barbara County

"Environmental Management of Disease Vectors"

UPDATE:   West Nile Virus in Santa Barbara County

The Mosquito and Vector Management District is a local governmental agency providing multi-faceted health and safety protection to the many residents of Santa Barbara County. Our primary focus is to protect the health and well being of area residents from the ravages of nuisance and disease vectors. The program directly interfaces with individual citizens to assist them in their vector related problems. The following services are provided as a public service to residents of the District residing within the South Coast areas of the County of Santa Barbara (Service Zone 1) and Carpinteria Valley (Service Zone 2):

     Mosquito abatement:   property inspections, breeding source monitoring and control, mosquito fish supplied for ornamental ponds.

    Roof rat control:   property inspections, roof rat bait station placement, rat infestation prevention and control training.

    Stinging and venomous insect control:   community bee swarm/hive removal and yellow jacket abatement.

    Vector nuisance abatement:   abatement of vector breeding nuisances through the enforcement of the legal powers of the California Health and Safety Code.

    Disease surveillance:   routine monitoring of vector-borne diseases including encephalitis, sylvatic plague, lyme disease, hanta virus; insect identification.

    Public health education:   dissemination of preventative public health information through distribution of informative published materials, interactive internet website, public presentations and informative displays.

What are Vectors?

Vectors are small animals or Arthropods which spread disease causing organisms or cause discomfort to the human population and domestic animals. Examples of vectors are mosquitoes, rats, flies, fleas, ticks, spiders and certain stinging insects. In Santa Barbara County we have a great variation of terrain types with human habitation. This leads to a high potential for vector problems. Constant monitoring and control efforts must be maintained to prevent the spread of diseases by vectors to the populace. Vectors spread disease to humans by biting, by burrowing into skin, by contaminating food, and by stinging. The Mosquito and Vector Management District utilizing a variety of actions, eliminates or lowers the number of vectors, consequently lowering the chance of disease potential to maintain the health of the public. The goal of the Mosquito and Vector Management District is to prevent human diseases, discomfort, injuries, annoyance, and economic loss caused by vector borne disease agents as well as domestic rodents.

Especially Related web-sites:

Mosquito and Vector Control Association of California
American Mosquito Control Association
California Vector-borne Disease Surveillance System   
State of California Department of Health Services Vector Borne Disease Section

Hyperlink to a list of other related web-sites

 

NEED ASSISTANCE? Have a problem? We can help! Mosquito and Vector Management District Enhanced Services limited to residents of the South Coast Telephone: (805) 969-5050 Fax: (805) 969 - 5643