South Carolina Mosquitoes and Mosquito-borne Diseases
“Arbovirus” is a term for “arthropod-borne virus”. All arboviruses share the common feature of being transmitted to man and animals by arthropods. Among the more than 520 arboviruses, about 100 infect humans, and less than half of them are transmitted by mosquitoes.
Mosquitoes have been a part of South Carolina history since the first settlers to the state in 1670. World-wide, mosquitoes are responsible for the transmission of disease to millions of people each year. The diseases include encephalitis (brain inflammation), dengue, yellow fever, malaria, and filariasis. Most of the diseases have been important in the United States in the past, but presently only the mosquito-borne encephalitis-causing viruses continue to occur with some frequency in the United States. The most common existing or potential mosquito-borne viruses or parasites in South Carolina include eastern equine encephalitis virus, LaCrosse encephalitis and other California serogroup viruses, St. Louis encephalitis virus, West Nile virus, and dog heartworm.
DHEC’s role in mosquito control involves educating the public about preventing the breeding of mosquitoes, providing personal protection guidance, and conducting mosquito-borne disease surveillance. S.C. DHEC develops, collects, and analyzes South Carolina-specific data on mosquito-borne illness. S.C. DHEC provides this data and technical assistance to mosquito control programs to guide their operations. In the state of South Carolina, the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (S.C. DHEC) Bureau of Laboratories (BOL), Bureau of Disease Control (BDC), and Bureau of Environmental Health (BEH), the Clemson University Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, and the SC Department of Natural Resources (DNR) work in cooperation toward the surveillance and identification of mosquito-borne diseases. Through this effort, South Carolina utilizes several surveillance techniques to detect West Nile virus and other mosquito-borne diseases.