***updated 8/21, at 1 p.m. (EST)***
FAIRFAX, Va. — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) teamed up with NPMA/PPMA for yesterday's World Mosquito Day, an event to raise public health awareness about mosquitoes.
CDC works with domestic and international partners to prevent mosquito-borne infections, respond to outbreaks, and address public health problems related to infections.
PMPs participated by joining the World Mosquito Day Thunderclap campaign, which helped amplify social media messages by connecting partners and friends to share the same message at the same time through Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr. PPMA also provided PMPs with sample World Mosquito Day messages and links that could be shared on social media outlets.
Cindy Mannes, executive director of the Professional Pest Management Alliance, said the pest control industry did a fantastic job on short notice spreading the word via social media. NPMA/PPMA posted four times about World Mosquito Day on the PestWorld Facebook page and tweeted nine times from @PestWorld on Twitter. These social media efforts garnered more than 13,000 impressions, 293 engagements and 659 video views.
Mannes added there are several ways PMPs can extend this outreach effort, including:
Sharing following mosquito-borne disease resources on your website:
Here are some sample social media messages that you are welcome to use as soon as possible. Share the following mosquito-borne disease resources on your website.
- West Nile virus: www.cdc.gov/westnile
- Chikungunya virus: www.cdc.gov/chikungunya
- Zika virus: www.cdc.gov/Zika
- Malaria: www.cdc.gov/malaria
- For mapped county-level annual arboviral disease reporting data, see: www.diseasemaps.usgs.gov
Sharing NPMA/PPMA resources:
In addition, Mannes said PMPs can share with customers NPMA/PPMA resources including:
- Video on how to apply insect repellent that we developed at the request of the CDC in 2016: http://pestworld.org/videos/how-to/how-to-apply-insect-repellent
- Infographic depicting common mosquito breeding grounds around the home: http://pestworld.org/multimedia-center/infographics/preventing-mosquito-breeding-grounds/
- Mosquito Pest Guides: http://pestworld.org/pest-guide/mosquitoes/
- Health Checks video featuring NPMA Medical Advisor Dr. Jorge Parada discussing mosquitoes and West Nile virus: http://pestworld.org/videos/health/health-checks-mosquitoes-west-nile-virus/
- Mosquitoes 101 guide: http://pestworld.org/news-hub/pest-articles/mosquitoes-101/
- Article on the “triple threat” of mosquitoes: http://pestworld.org/news-hub/pest-health-hub/the-triple-threat-of-mosquitoes/
- Zip code locator for consumers to find a licensed pest control company: http://pestworld.org/find-local-exterminators/
