Sarah Michaels is an Entomologist and Epidemiologist with a focus in vector-borne disease. She was previously an Entomologist at the City of New Orleans Mosquito Control Board where she supervised arbovirus surveillance and vector control, and conducted operational research and community outreach in response to West Nile virus, chikungunya and Zika. She was a member of the Advisory Board which updated the Best Management Practices for Integrated Mosquito Management for the American Mosquito Control Association. Sarah was also an Infectious Disease Epidemiologist at the Louisiana Office of Public Health and was active in the public health response following Hurricane Katrina. Prior to joining the faculty at Tulane, she was a Lecturer at the Northeast Regional Center for Excellence in Vector-Borne Diseases in the Entomology Department at Cornell University. She has trained many students, professionals, and the public in vector biology and mosquito control.
Vector‑Borne Diseases SurveillanceCornell Course
Course Overview
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reported a growing threat of vector-borne disease cases in the United States and a limited capacity to respond. Local and state health departments and vector control organizations are facing increasing demands to respond to these threats. One of the most important strategies for doing so is surveillance — standardized trapping, species identification, testing for pathogens, and data interpretation.
This $399 course is accredited by the National Environmental Health Association (NEHA) and provides 28 contact hours of continuing education. The course will help you understand the tools, methodology, and best practices for the surveillance of arthropod vectors, including ticks and mosquitoes. You will gain the knowledge and resources necessary to design an effective vector surveillance program in your local jurisdiction. The course is intended to train and create a network of public health practitioners, from a variety of backgrounds, in entomology and in the approaches, techniques, and skills required for effective surveillance programs.
Click here for the full course outline
Discount available for regional vector control association members – contact us!
Key Course Takeaways
Develop an understanding of the sampling, testing, and data-interpretation strategies that make for an effective surveillance program
Consider how to build such a program that targets the mosquitoes, ticks, and vector-borne disease risks of your local area
Practice creating a public-health communication campaign that successfully conveys prevention and control information to your regional audience
How It Works
Course Authors
Laura Harrington became interested in global health issues and vector-borne diseases after living and working for several years in rural Thailand. She contracted both dengue and malaria while living abroad and realized the impact these infections have on children and adults in resource-poor nations. Professor Harrington’s research focuses on the biology, ecology, and behavior of mosquitoes that transmit human diseases. Current research projects in her laboratory address the blood feeding and mating behavior of mosquito vectors of dengue fever, Zika, chikungunya, West Nile virus, and malaria. She also studies human- and animal-mosquito interactions as well as the role of climate change and globalization on emerging vector-borne diseases. Professor Harrington studies mosquito biology in the field locally as well as abroad, with past or present field sites in Thailand, Tanzania, and Mexico, and she is active in extension and outreach activities in New York and the northeastern United States. She teaches and mentors undergraduate and graduate students in the areas of entomology, ecology and evolutionary biology, comparative biomedical sciences, biomathematics, general biology, animal science, and biology and society. Professor Harrington has published more than 80 peer-reviewed articles and three scientific book chapters; many of these have focused on the biology and behavior of Aedes disease vectors. Her research has been supported by funding from the National Institutes of Health, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, USDA, and Centers for Disease Control.
Who Should Enroll
Public Health and Vector Control staff
Sanitarians
Environmental Health Professional
Anyone in a new or planned role who is responsible for protecting the public from vector borne diseases
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