Just when I thought it was time to take a deep breath and start planning for the next season, along came trouble. Since I have put the last 18 years of my career into Multnomah County's vector control program, you can imagine that I ave been a bit busy gathering information and developing a case to support the program's value. At the same time, record rainfall has flushed rats out of the sewers in several Northwest cities including Portland. An Associated Press story out of Astoria, Oregon talked about rats popping up toilets. It did not take long for the Portland media to pick up on the story, and I was in the news.
Media attention is good for the program in the long run.
Unfortunately, this TV advertising of a free rodent control service reaches quite an audience, and our phones have been ringing off the hook. Despite its down side, media attention is just what vector control programs need in order to guard against potential elimination when funds get tight. On November 27th, the Oregon Vector Control Association convened a meeting to discuss strategy for dealing with Measure 47. We were fortunate to have Dr. Emilio DeBess from the Oregon Health Division in attendance. Dr. DeBess is a Veterinarian with the Health Division working on communicable disease issues, and is a strong supporter of vector control.