Project SWAT (Share the Work to Alleviate the Threat)

Project S.W.A.T. (Share the Work to Alleviate the Threat) is a regional initiative, proposed by County Executive Joel Giambra and Commissioner of Health, Dr Anthony Billittier in late 2000 following the detection of West Nile Virus in 25 birds in 2000. The Erie County Health Department was assigned the lead role in a program to train county municipalities participating on a voluntary basis in larvicide application procedures and recognition of larval habitat. The Erie County Health Department would supply the training, the NYSDEC Permit to Apply Chemicals to Control Aquatic Insects and the larvicide product. Each municipality would supply the manpower to apply the larvicide and perform record keeping. Project SWAT addresses the public health threat of West Nile Virus. This issue is relevant due to the numerous dead birds, mosquito pools, and one horse found to be positive for West Nile Virus in Erie County. There also were nine human cases of West Nile Virus with one death in 2002. Project SWAT addresses this issue by attacking the primary vector species for West Nile Virus, Culex pipiens and Culex restuans in their most abundant habitat, which are storm receiver catch basins.

The goal of Project SWAT is to reduce the population of mosquitoes potentially carrying West Nile Virus by applying larvicide to common breeding habitats.

A total of 131,763.18 ounces of methoprene, as the product Altosid XR, and 42.37 ounces of methoprene, as the product Altosid Briquets, were applied to 102,365 storm receiver catch basins by eleven municipalities in the past four mosquito season. The larvicide product was provided by the Erie County Health Department at no cost to the participating municipality. These twelve municipalities represent the area of the county with the greatest risk for West Nile Virus based on amount of mosquito habitat in the natural setting and number of storm receiver catch basins present.

This project is no longer funded on a large-scale basis, but Erie County continues to do public health mosquito control on a complaint driven basis.