Bannock County seeks Idaho Department of Health grant to fund mosquito testing for West Nile

Bannock County public works staff asked the County Commissioners on April 3 to authorize the chair to apply for an Idaho Department of Health grant to support mosquito trapping, vector speciation and West Nile virus screening.

Buddy Romrell, Public Works assistant director, told commissioners the grant would fund basic field and lab work that helps the county identify which mosquito species are present and test mosquito pools for West Nile. "What this this will be paying for is just, the fuel for setting the traps, the dry ice that we have to use, inside the trap, and then obviously the labor side of it to to pay the employee to do that," Romrell said.

Romrell said the state program typically provides up to $7,000; the county applied for $8,200 to indicate it could use more funding. "They, they'll do up to $7,000. And we, we went above and beyond and actually applied for 8,200 knowing we wouldn't get it, but we just wanna show them that we could use as much funding as they can provide us," he said.

Romrell described the local trap and testing routine: depending on staff, crews typically set six to eight traps per day for three days a week, with the last day used to perform speciation work and prepare for the next week. Under the terms discussed for the Idaho grant, the county agreed to operate three traps per week and submit an annual report listing the number caught and how many were vectors.

Romrell explained the county uses a rapid screening test for positive mosquito pools; positive results are sent to the state for laboratory confirmation and the state issues any public health notifications. "Once that ramp number reads a certain criteria, it'll tell us that it's positive. But in order to confirm it, then we have to send it into the state, and the state will then confirm it," Romrell said.

An unnamed commissioner moved to authorize the chair's signature on the grant application. The commissioners approved the motion by voice vote; a roll-call tally was not recorded in the transcript.

The county said the grant funds would pay for fuel, dry ice and employee time; Romrell characterized the work as routine surveillance that supports state confirmation and public notices if West Nile is detected.

Meeting business that preceded and followed the request included routine claims and payroll items; the mosquito grant request took a brief portion of the meeting.