A Texas-based physician, Dr. John A.Wells,MD,MBA has extensive experience in public healthcare welfare. As a city health authority with the Brownsville public health department, Dr. John Wells has assisted in launching initiatives that would improve health for city residents.
One of the city's initiatives launched a few years ago is a program that would proactively address the mosquito problem.
Brownsville, Texas is on the border of the southern US and is home to 39 species of mosquitoes that are known to transmit dangerous pathogens, making humans susceptible to diseases such as the Zika virus, West Nile Virus, malaria, dengue, yellow fevers, and encephalitis. Incidentally, Brownsville reported the first case of Zika virus in 2016.
To combat the Zika virus, the city’s department of health, CDC, University of Texas School of Public Health and the EPA collaborated to establish a programs that would reduce the mosquito population. The programs were geared to assist Brownsville residents who belong to the low-income population. Mapping risks include looking at rain amounts, temperature, and land cover to assess the amount of risk posed to areas.
More than just researching potential hot spots for mosquito growth, the department instituted crowdsourcing, promotoras, and spraying technologies. Crowdsourcing involves allowing residents to fill out forms on an online platform that will report information on potential breeding sites. The second platform is to train community members to educate other members about the transmission of diseases through promotoras. Finally, the city was given technology through the US Department of Housing and Urban Development that would more effectively combat mosquitoes. Through Pro-Mist technology, vector control workers can spray in hard to reach areas.
