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Acting vector control chief reviews 40 years of county work, flags avian-flu findings in wild birds
Summary
Adena Y, acting chief of the Alameda County Vector Control District, told the Health Committee the district has expanded from sewer rodent control into broad disease surveillance, laboratory testing and wildlife monitoring — and confirmed multiple wild-bird avian influenza positives during 2023–24 testing.
Adena Y, acting chief and scientific program manager for the Alameda County Vector Control District, told the Alameda County Board of Supervisors Health Committee on Feb. 24 that the district has grown from a sewer-focused rodent program into a countywide disease-surveillance operation that now tests wildlife, conducts molecular diagnostics and partners with state and federal agencies.
The presentation traced the program’s roots to early mosquito control in the Bay Area and described the county’s separate mosquito-abatement district and the vector-control district formed in 1984 to handle rodents and other non-mosquito vectors. "We inspect over 8,000 manholes a year," Adena Y said, describing a long-running sewer-baiting program funded in part by a local assessment in Oakland.
Why it matters: The district’s expanded laboratory and surveillance work helps local public health officials detect and respond to animal-borne pathogens before they spread to people or commercial…
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