Texas Department of State Health Services' Technical Guidance: Mosquito Abatement Post-Weather Incident.

The Texas Department of State Health Services provides assistance to local health departments following severe weather events and other public health emergencies. Following the reports of large mosquito populations hindering recovery efforts after Hurricane Harvey, the Texas State Medical Operations Center created the Vector Control Task Force (VCTF) to organize the mosquito response requested through the State of Texas Assistance Requests. Since Hurricane Harvey, there have been other severe weather events that have activated the VCTF. The purpose of this developed document is to provide guidance to local jurisdictions requesting mosquito abatement assistance from the state level in response to a proliferation of nuisance mosquitoes that hinders governmental response and recovery efforts after a severe weather incident. The document also establishes criteria that the VCTF will evaluate to determine if and how resources should be allocated to programs requesting assistance for mosquito abatement. The guidance document provides background information on mosquito surveillance and control and identifies tasks, roles, and responsibilities for local jurisdictions, state, and federal partners.