May 13, 2022 (Dededo, Guam) – Team Building Field Trip marked the official last day of the Pacific Vector Training on Mosquitoes for the U.S. Affiliated Pacific Islands (USAPIs) of Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), and the Republic of Palau.
The week-long training started on Monday, May 2, 2022, at the Pacific Island Regional Vector Laboratory (PIRVeL) located at the Guam Department of Public Health and Social Services, Division of Environmental Health (DPHSS-DEH) in Guam.
Representatives from the University of California, Davis, Walter Reed Biosystematics Unit (WRBU), and the Pacific Island Health Officers’ Association (PIHOA) conducted the training that was attended by 23 vector control supervisors and staff from the Guam DPHSS-DEH, CNMI Commonwealth Healthcare Corporation’s Bureau of Environmental Health, and the Republic of Palau Ministry of Health and Human Services, Division of Environmental Health.
Combined didactic training through lecture, field, and laboratory activities were conducted on topics such as mosquito surveillance, identification, and control that included hands-on workshops on public health entomology that showed attendees how to i) trap mosquitoes in the field using multiple trap types, ii) sort, identify and preserve specimens for reference collections and pathogen isolation, iii) conduct insecticide resistance testing, iv) apply insecticides safely and v) enter data into an online database for further analysis. All activities were designed to improve decision-making to prevent and respond to mosquito-borne disease outbreaks.
Funding provided by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) through the Pacific Southwest Center of Excellence in Vector-Borne Diseases is supporting this project entitled, “Strengthening Vector Management in the U.S. Affiliated Pacific Islands.” The project aims to increase the knowledge and decision-making capacity of vector control staff in the USAPIs.
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