Shaker Heights adopts Integrated Pest Management system

In its "Summary Report on West Nile Virus," the Shaker Heights Health Department (which functions independently of the Cuyahoga County Board of Health) recommends an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) policy to effectively combat West Nile Virus. The following is the city's IPM policy.

The IPM philosophy describes a methodology that relies on using a balance of factors to control insects and other pests and thereby protects human populations and food sources from disease.

For mosquito control, IPM involves utilizing a variety of approaches such as breeding habitat elimination, larvaciding (controlling larval mosquito populations using biological and/or synthetic agents), and natural controls, while reserving adulticiding as a last resort. The emphasis is on surveillance and more benign methods, such as biological controls and other low environmental impact methods, before resorting to pesticides, which are considered by many experts to be the least effective method for mosquito control. Other aspects of IPM disease control programs include both public involvement and responsibility for personal protection.

IPM components in Shaker Heights include:

• Surveillance
• Public outreach
• Bacterial and chemical control

By reviewing many of the policies of communities faced with the responsibility of mosquito control, IPM seems to be making a significant impact on the way they conduct these operations. Many communities have been able to reduce or eliminate the use of adulticides based on the success of alternative approaches.

Resources:

• Bio-Integral Resource Center
  
• EPA and CDC on Integrated Pest Management
  
• National IPM Network

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