NEW JERSEY MOSQUITO CONTROL ASSOCIATION, INC. NEWSLETTER
VOL. XIV NUMBER 3 September, 2002
NJMCA Executive Committee Meeting, Summary August 2,
2002- Monmouth County MEC Submitted by Christine Musa, President
The NJMCA Executive Committee met on August 2nd. As stated
in the Association Bylaws the Executive Committee is established to “manage the
affairs of the Association.” In order to communicate the activity of the
Executive Committee to the membership the following is a summary of the
discussions that took place and actions taken at that meeting.
Treasurer’s Report: The Association currently has a
fund balance of $54,974.40. Discussion took place during the treasurer’s report
regarding alternative accounts (to get better interest rates) for the
Association funds that are now kept in a Dean Witter account.
Tax exempt status is being pursued and the anticipated
attorney cost is approximately $500.00. The budget will have to be modified by
the Trustees to place this amount in the appropriate line item in addition to
making changes in the budget to accommodate unexpected expenses in other line
items.
Committee Reports: Written reports were submitted
for review by the following committees:
- Research & Development: The Committee has met
twice, reviewing areas of needed investigation and decided to concentrate on
insecticides that are currently not fully approved in the Recommendations in
addition to the Larvasonic, distribution of positive mosquitoes in the
proximity of positive crows and the gravid trap attractive distance. Drs.
Sutherland and Brattsten developed a larvicide and adulticide protocol to be
used in all field trials to allow for comparison of tests from one county to
the next. These were reviewed and accepted by the committee. Someone from each
agency working with new products should be certified in Category 10
(Demonstration and Research). Cage designs for adulticide trials were discussed
and a common design agreed upon for which construction plans were provided by
Dr. Sutherland. Droplet collection techniques were discussed including the use
of a slide spinner and the possibility of centralized regional storage centers
for making the equipment easily accessible.
- Program: A Call for Papers was developed for the
2003 meeting and will be in the next newsletter. The Call for Papers along
with the Guidelines for Proceedings Manuscripts will also be on the NJMCA
website.
- Professional Training: Meetings are taking place
for next years Pesticide Re-certification Training. Input from surveys and
tests taken by prior attendees is being considered to determine training
needs. A draft program is intended to be set by November for obtaining
re-certification credits for NJ & surrounding states.
- Public Relations: The poster contest had 85
entries in 2002. Plans have been made for the Association to have a display at
the NJ Education Association Convention, November 7 & 8, 2002 instead of the
NJ Science Teachers Convention held in October and at the League of
Municipalities meeting, November 18-21, 2002.
- Pesticide Environmental Stewardship Program (PESP):
Communication from former AMCA-PESP Committee Chair, Doug Carlson included
comment from EPA’s letter of acceptance for the AMCA’s annual report, within
which New Jersey’s annual report (as a sub-partner) was incorporated.
- The EPA’s letter from PESP liaison Kevin Sweeney
include‘ congratulations on the excellent progress as measured in acre-age
included in source reduction programs, numbers of workers trained and
certified and in your public education efforts.’ The Executive Committee
voiced an interest in getting acknowledgement and recognition of New
Jersey’s contribution to this program and this annual report as a
sub-partner of AMCA.
- Scholarship: A meeting is planned in the near
future for the development of written criteria for scholarship recipients for
approval.
- Newsletter: The third issue for 2002 is being
assembled at this time with distribution intended for the end of August. All
NJMCA members and others interested in receiving a copy are on the mailing
list in addition to the issues being posted on the NJMCA website.
- Registration/Companion (for annual meeting): The
meeting registration form is being revised and an updated version will be
available on the Internet that will facilitate registration at the 2003
meeting. Optional companion activities/tours were outlined and determined
necessary due to the off-boardwalk location of the meeting facility.
- Proceedings Distribution Manager: Sales to
agencies and outside libraries, universities etc. was outlined. The charge for
the 2002 Proceedings was requested for billing purposes and is covered later
in this summary.
- Membership Committee: Discussion took place
regarding Membership on a number of long standing issues:
- The requirement in the current bylaws for two sponsor
signatures for new members was reviewed. Discussion included argument to
keep the concept of sponsorship to assure that members endorse the concept
of professional mosquito control. Rebuttal included arguments to accept all
individuals regardless of their views on the pros or cons of mosquito
control. A motion was made to eliminate this requirement. A Bylaws committee
will be established to propose revised wording in the bylaws regarding this
which will be voted on by the membership. It was noted at this time that the
sponsorship requirement may be a factor in our status with the IRS and
inquiries will be made regarding this.
- The length of time a member is kept on the membership
list if dues have not been paid was touched on. The Membership Committee
will come up with a recommendation.
- The benefits of different levels of membership
(including honorary, regular and sustaining) have not been defined. The
Membership Committee will meet to develop clear rules and regulations for
sustaining membership including benefits that go with that and other
membership categories as well as language that disclaims product endorsement
because of sustaining membership.
- Clarification was given to the membership year (the
association operates on a calendar year for financial purposes) that
entitles a member to the luncheon at the annual business meeting.
Luncheon tickets will be given only to members that are paid for the
calendar year in which the meeting is held.
- Membership requirements for NJMCA awards was
addressed in addition to the type of recognition to be given. A motion was
passed unanimously stating the NJMCA membership is not a prerequisite to be
nominated or to receive any award from the Association. The Bunnie Hajek
Award, the Achievement Award and the Past President’s Award will be plaques
and the 25 year service roll will be kept on file with the individual
receiving a certificate. Please note that an individual can be listed on the
25 year service roll and also be awarded the Achievement Award upon
retirement.
- A membership database (in Microsoft Access) has been
developed by Membership Chair Jack Nunemaker. There is an interest in
expanding this to include all Association contacts in addition to being made
available to the Association Secretary and all the Committee Chairs that
would have need to use it including the following: Convention Arrangements,
Program, Newsletter, Commercial Exhibits, Registration, Professional
Training. Users would have to be trained to use the software. The
possibility of having this available on the web vs. having one individual
maintaining all the listings was discussed and will be pursued with possible
assistance from the Associated Executives Internet Committee.
- Future Annual Meetings: The possibility of
incorporating the state health departments annual statewide West Nile Virus
meeting in conjunction with the 2003 NJMCA annual meeting is being pursued.
This would avoid the need for speakers to attend both our convention and the
NJ Health Officer Association quarterly meeting which has accommodated this
WNV program in the past.
- The Northeast Mosquito Control Association is no
longer looking to have a joint meeting with the NJMCA in late 2004.
Proposals from Trump Marina are being requested for March 9-12, 2004 and
March 8-11, 2005 for approval by the Trustees. Neither of these meeting
dates conflicts with Easter, an AMCA meeting or Rutgers spring break.
- Annual Meeting Proceedings: The price for the
2002 Annual Meeting Proceedings was set at $10.00 each for ordering purposes
prior to the end of the year. The proceedings will also be offered in a write
protected CD-ROM format (for $10.00 each) in addition to the bound hard copies
produced in prior years.
- Surveillance Symposium: The surveillance
symposium presented at the 1989 NJMCA Annual Meeting will be published in a
separate CD-ROM with the intended availability date of the end of 2003. Future
papers on other surveillance techniques such as resting boxes, gravid traps,
etc. will be added to this publication in the form of revised versions.
- Media Training: The contact information for a
possible media training session provided earlier in the year is being passed
on to the Professional Training Committee to set up this training using funds
already available in the NJMCA budget for this.
- Motion Book: A book has been set up to record
motions made by the Association which are organized by topic for easy
reference.
- Letter of Support Requested: Concern of mosquito
breeding in cemeteries was addressed and the President will write a letter to
discourage use of vessels that hold water in cemeteries.
Freshwater Wetlands Regulations Update
On July 30th there was a meeting scheduled by the Office
of Mosquito Control Coordination with representatives of the NJDEP Land Use
Administration and 15 different county mosquito control commissions and
agencies. The purpose of the meeting was to develop an improved relationship
between the Department and the regulated community who are obligated to obtain
water management permits for mosquito control. As a result of the first meeting,
several constructive recommendations were brought forward which will (hopefully)
evolve into seminars, workshops and guidelines for the working agencies. The
counties submitted twenty-five pre-meeting comments to OMCC staff member Sean
McManus which were condensed and collated in order to format the agenda. Almost
all of the questions, which pertain to the application for and successful
approval of all different categories of permits for mosquito control, were
addressed by DEP Supervisor Kevin Broderick and the Land Use regulation staff.
Each question will be formally replied to and will be used as a basis for a
seminar on the subject. It is hoped that there will be several more such
meetings thus improving communication and cooperation between the agencies.
Robert Kent, Administrator Office of Mosquito Control
Coordination
DID YOU KNOW THAT?
For those who live in houses with screened-in porches and
window and door screens, such an insect-excluding device is taken for granted.
Yet, less than 50 miles away in what was the focal point for West Nile virus in
1999, you could drive around the area a year later and see that the majority of
windows in apartment buildings were not screened. One of the ironies of the 1999
outbreak was the case of the man who would wake up in the middle of the night
and go out on his back porch to take the night air. Unfortunately, his was not a
screened porch. It was, as Yogi Berra said, “Déjà vu all over again,” for the
Egyptians who lived in mosquito-plagued areas of the Nile delta around 450 BCE
built towers in which to live so as to escape the pestiferous insects. The
residents of Queens felt that living in upper stories was adequate protection.
One wonders if the sales of window screens in New York City skyrocketed because
of West Nile virus. The Egyptians, as well as the ancient Greeks, also
reportedly used fine-meshed nets to protect themselves. Before the discoveries
of Manson, Ross, Finlay and Reed, mosquito netting had proved invaluable to
David Livingstone who slept under a “mosquito curtain” during his travels in
sub-Saharan Africa–known then as “the White man’s grave” be-cause of malaria and
yellow fever and today an area where a child dies of malaria every 30 seconds. A
search of the internet for information on mosquito netting reveals the name of
Jane Delano a nurse who, before the relation of mosquitoes to yellow fever was
known, wanted the use of mosquito netting to prevent the spread of this dreaded
disease.
Mosquito netting even served as a subject for the great
American painter John Singer Sargent who painted two portraits of ladies
reclining with mosquito nets to protect them [right]. An excellent, new book,
The Fever Trail: In Search of the Cure for Malaria by Mark Honigsbaum, has a
photo of a British malariologist with a headnet on the cover, and those who
follow the trail of mosquitoes and malaria prevention are aware of the current
efforts to introduce treated bednets as a means of con-trolling malaria. On a
personal note, I remember sleeping under mosquito netting in Tsingtao, China, in
the summer of 1946 because two US servicemen had died of Japanese B
encephalitis. The development of what many consider an essential part of a house
can be dated quite precisely. In 1874 Chester Wickwire (and, yes, that was his
name) produced 150 square feet of hardware cloth for use in excluding flies. In
1876, he sold his hardware store to devote his energies to producing bronze wire
screening, and by the mid 1880s he was producing some 30,000 square feet
annually. The Wickwires produced the screening that was used so effectively in
Gorgas’ plans for preventing mosquito-borne disease during the construction of
the Panama Canal. Later, in the 1920s, Wickwire Brothers produced some 25% of
the world’s wire cloth.
The
number of cases of malaria, which was endemic in the South until the 1940s, was
greatly reduced by the installation and routine repair of screens by local
departments of health with support from the Rockefeller Foundation.
Those of us who have spent our time in mosquito control
work tend to take screens for granted as they have been such a natural part of
our lives.
We should remember that exclusion is a fundamental part of
an integrated pest management program. Our efforts have been directed at
protecting the citizens we serve by reducing mosquito populations, but we should
not forget that exclusion is a valid principle, particularly when the elements
conspire to create mosquito populations that get out of hand.
Books to read:
Gillett, J.D.
Mosquitos. 1971.
Harrison, Gordon.
Mosquitoes, Malaria and Man: A History of the Hostilities Since 1880.
1978.
Honigsbaum, Mark.
The Fever Trail: In Search of the Cure for Malaria. 2001.
McCullough, David.
The Path Between the Seas: The Creation of the Panama Canal 1870-1914.
1977.
Spielman, Andrew &
D’Antonio, Michael. Mosquito: A Natural History of Our Most Persistant and
Deadly Foe. 2001.
Henry Rupp
Trap Nets
I was recently wandering through our local Home Depot, and
came across a good quality, readily available, and inexpensive alternative to
the EVS & CDC miniature trap nets.
In their painting supplies section, Home Depot stocks
Tufpro Painter’s BestTM1-gallon nylon paint strainers with elastic tops for 89
cents each (compare to EVS trap replacement nets from BioQuip sell for
$2.90-$3.15 each, plus ship-ping). The paint strainer nets measure 14” long and
are made of a very fine nylon mesh, with double stitched seams and an
elasticized opening at the top. Unlike the nets originally supplied with the EVS
traps, these nets are open only at one end, which I find to be an advantage.
These fit perfectly onto BioQuip’s EVS traps and CDC miniature light traps. The
paint strainer nets also fit our other CO2-baited traps, but ABC traps may
require an additional rubber band or similar device to secure the net in place.
The nets “poof” out nicely, and keep the mosquitoes in good condition for
identification. The only flaw I have been able to find with the paint strainer
net is that it lacks a tie to securely close the net after it is collected, but
this is easily remedied with a rubber band or binder clip. I have used this net
on an EVS trap for several nights with good success.
Jamesina J. Scott, Mosquito Research & Control
NJMCA Annual Meeting, 2003 Call for Papers
Due November 30th, 2002!
Electronic Submission or
Paper Submission
UPCOMING EVENTS
-
Pennsylvania Vector Control Assoc.
Conference, Strausburg Inn (Lancaster County) Nov 13-15 Contact
Jaquelyn Hakim at (570) 420 - 3525
-
Northeastern Mosquito Control Assoc.
Meeting, Dec. 2 – 4, 2002, Mystic, Ct. See website at
www.nmca..org for more info.
-
NJMCA Annual Meeting, March
11-14, 2003, Trump Marina, Atlantic City. See website at
www.njmosquito.org (go to link for NJMCA) for more info.