ABSTRACT

In 2003, the mosquito acquired new significance in the southwestern United States. The arrival of West Nile virus (WNV) and its first associated human deaths ushered in a rereading of the mosquito from an itchy nuisance to a potentially life-threatening hazard. Mundane objects now required attention like never before. Swimming pools, irrigation canals, ditches, clogged gutters, and abandoned tires all became potential sources of a mobile public health hazard: the mosquito vector. In the state of Arizona, WNV went from a largely unanticipated epidemic situation to an endemic one in short order, where expectation of ongoing disease control quickly became a part of government obligations (Robbins et al. 2008).