Health comes first and West Nile virus a risk. With the objective of training the public health agents of the province of Huelva of the Ministry of Health and Family of the Junta de Andalucía in the surveillance and control of mosquito vectors to prevent the West Nile virusthe Pest Control Service of the Huelva Provincial Council has just launched a training program aimed at this group.
With the presence of some thirty public health agents, from the Pest Control Service This training has been carried out, another similar one will be carried out soon, in which public health agents from the Huelva-Costa, Condado-Campiña health districts and the North of Huelva health management area will participate.
In these conferences, content related to the identification, surveillance and control of mosquito vectors of West Nile fever, as well as other diseases, have been addressed. For this, both theoretical classes and field visits have been developed, with a clear practical focus that has ranged from laboratory techniques to demonstrations with the machinery used in pest control work.
From the Diputación, and specifically from the Pest Control Service, the aim is to collaborate with the different administrations in order to safeguard public health and the quality of life of a broad group of the provincial population, which reaches around of 660,000 people, including inhabitants and tourists in coastal areas, and the economic activity that is generated around them.
West Nile virus risk
Recently, the Ministry of Health has carried out an update of the new risk map of the West Nile virus. This year, entomological surveillance (mosquito surveillance) will cover 24 Huelva municipalities. The new risk map for Huelva takes certain factors into account, such as the detection of mosquitoes with West Nile virus in previous seasons, horses positive for West Nile fever or human cases.
The Huelva Provincial Council’s work in mosquito control has been reinforced thanks to the coordination, advice and verification work carried out by public health agents.
Thus, the agents carry out verification tasks in risk areas of level 3 and 4, reviewing the general aspects of the municipal plans and inspecting the control points. In those risk areas classified as level 1 and 2 (predisposed and low area respectively) the general aspects of the diagnosis of the situation carried out are reviewed and the control points were inspected on a monthly basis.
