West Nile Virus Prevention Outreach

Fun Creativity is Key in Fairfax County’s
West Nile Virus Prevention Outreach

July 22, 2004

The Fairfax County Health Department employs traditional – and not-so-traditional – outreach strategies to prevent the spread of West Nile virus and reduce the number of mosquitoes in the county. West Nile virus program staff are delivering the prevention message at farmers markets, foreign language newspapers, homeowners associations, senior homes, community fairs, churches, and even a concert at Wolf Trap featuring a band called “The Mosquitos.”

 To supplement their public health message, the Health Department has produced thousands of West Nile virus educational brochures and fliers written in five of the most common languages in Fairfax County – English, Chinese, Korean, Spanish and Vietnamese.

Fun giveaways include flyswatters, insect repellent, rulers, bookmarks, magnets and even wiggly insect toys for children. Displayed throughout the county are fun, colorful cartoon posters reminding people, “Don’t be Mosquito Meat: Use DEET.”.

“In a county with more than 1 million people who speak approximately 120 languages, creativity is key in getting messages into a wide and diverse population,” said Jorge Arias, supervisor of Fairfax County’s West Nile virus program. “We take our outreach efforts to a new level. We’re getting our message out any way we can,” he said.

One of the Health Department’s more unique approaches is to target concert-goers at Wolf Trap Farm Park on July 26 after a concert that will feature a band named The Mosquitos, who open for the headliner band, the B-52s.

“When I saw that a band named The Mosquitos was coming to Wolf Trap, I felt we had to be there to get our health message out to the public,” said Carl Sivertsen, West Nile virus outreach coordinator for the Health Department. The Park Service issued the permit, however, Sivertsen agreed with the band’s promoters that the county’s West Nile virus tagline, “Say NO to MOsqitoes,” would be best delivered after the show.

 Sivertsen, who is also the chair of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Government’s Mosquito Borne Pathogens Committee, is often seen in public forums delivering the Health Department’s West Nile virus message donning his standard uniform: a pair of mosquito sunglasses, a mosquito t-shirt and a mosquito puppet.

For more information on the county’s West Nile virus program, or to receive educational materials available in five languages, visit the West Nile Web site or give Carl Sivertsen a buzz at 703-246-2300, TTY 703-591-6435.