Proceedings of the Vertebrate Pest Conference

The County Service Area (CSA) 1984-1 for Vector Control was established in June 1984 to serve the public’s needs for providing a comprehensive vector control program throughout Alameda County. In 1987, the City of Oakland recognized that it had a severe rat problem emanating from the sanitary sewers, and in an effort to control them the voters approved a supplemental assessment. For thirty years the CSA has implemented an urban rodent surveillance program focusing on monitoring and controlling commensal rats (Norway and roof rats) and mice in residential, commercial, and business properties. In 2017, the CSA received 2,917 Requests for Service from the public about domestic rodents (2,282 re: rats and 635 re: mice), representing 38.9% of overall service requests. Those 2,917 rodent service requests had staff biologists performing 16,722 field services operations related to rodents. The field service operations included performing smoke and dye tests of sewer lines for breaks; field and residential surveys for rodent activity; recommendations and follow-up evaluations of rodent control measures; and assistance with enforcement actions. In 2017, a total of 8,150 sewer inspections and 1,531 applications of Contrac rodenticide bait were made in the City of Oakland. The CSA is now looking at incorporating rodenticide resistance testing, GIS data analysis, pulse-baiting strategies, and disease surveillance as part of an Integrated Pest Management program as improvements in 2018.