title
PROPOSED RESOLUTION
RESOLUTION CALLING FOR EVALUATION AND REFORM OF COOK COUNTY MOSQUITO ABATEMENT DISTRICTS
WHEREAS, the four Mosquito Abatement Districts (MADs) in Cook County were created through the Mosquito Abatement District Act (70 ILCS 1005/0.01) promulgated in 1927. The Act states the “…board of trustees of any mosquito abatement district, or its designee, shall conduct routine surveillance of mosquitoes to detect the presence of mosquito-borne diseases of public health significance. The surveillance shall be conducted in accordance with mosquito abatement and control guidelines as set forth by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention”; and
WHEREAS, organisms such as mosquitoes that are capable of transmitting diseases and parasites from one human or animal to another are known as vectors; and
WHEREAS, the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention considers Illinois “vulnerable” to vector-borne diseases; and
WHEREAS, Illinois Mosquito Abatement Districts are authorized by the Mosquito Abatement District Act to safeguard the health of residents through a methodical program to monitor and/or reduce vectors of disease such as mosquitoes, rats and ticks; and
WHEREAS, Mosquito Abatement Districts are independent special districts with a separate taxing authority that use integrated mosquito management strategies to control mosquito populations and prevent diseases from mosquito-borne pathogens such as malaria, yellow fever, dengue, filariasis, encephalitis, Zika and West Nile virus; and
WHERERAS, the management of mosquito populations reduces the risk of disease from such pathogens and protects public health; and
WHEREAS, municipalities and counties nationally spend vastly different dollar amounts on mosquito abatement services and each has its own governance structure. For example, Miami-Dade County, Florida spends approximately $15 per capita on mosquito abatement; The Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota metropolitan area spends approximately $8 per capita; and Cook County, Illinois spends approximately $5.05 per capita. The Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area has one consolidated Mosquito Abatement District which services seven (7) counties that make up the Minneapolis and St. Paul regions; and
WHEREAS, mosquito abatement services are delivered in Cook County through a fragmented array of special district governments, municipal or county public health programs, public works programs, townships, and/or through contracts with private companies. In suburban Cook County (945 sq miles), there are at least eight (8) entities that provide the majority of mosquito abatement services. There are four (4) separate and independent Mosquito Abatement Districts that provide direct mosquito abatement services including: the North Shore MAD (70 sq. miles), Desplaines Valley MAD (77 sq. miles), Northwest MAD (242 sq. miles), and South Cook County MAD (340 sq. miles). The City of Chicago Department of Public Health covers areas outside of South Cook County MAD and within the City of Chicago (~160 sq. miles) via commercial contract. The remaining portions of Cook County are managed by a variety of other entities including Stickney Public Health District (13 sq miles), Leyden Township (20 sq miles), and The Cook County Department of Public Health (generally in areas not covered by MADs) often by commercial contract; and
WHEREAS, Mosquito Abatement services in Cook County are funded primarily through property tax levies, resulting in approximately $12.4 million distributed across the four districts, $150,000 to Cook County DPH and $1.2 million to the City of Chicago; and
WHEREAS, the four (4) separate Cook County Mosquito Abatement Districts serve different geographical regions across the County, each of which has an independent Board, director and employees; and
WHEREAS, a county-wide comprehensive, data-and-science driven mosquito management program that is prevention-focused, prevents disease through habitat reduction, public education, the promotion of personal protective measures, and the targeted use of biorational and microbial larvicides will reduce reliance on wide-area adult mosquito control (an approach that should be reserved for situations in which surveillance data or public health concerns indicate an elevated risk and when other interventions have not achieved the desired outcomes); and
WHEREAS, this type of comprehensive, prevention-focused and data-driven integrated mosquito management approach is not uniformly practiced throughout Cook County; and
WHEREAS, a recent Civic Federation report finds, “there has been a disparity in mosquito abatement control programming among the different districts . .” and surveillance efforts are critical for a successfully integrated mosquito management approach. South Cook County MAD, located in an economically disadvantaged part of the county, routinely employs 38 CDC gravid traps for 340 sq miles of district territory for a trap density of 1 trap per 8.9 square miles. The North Shore MAD routinely employs 19 CDC gravid traps over 69 sq miles of territory for a density of 1 trap per 3.63 sq mile representing a ~2.45-fold difference in surveillance effort for mosquitoes and pathogens. For other trap types (New Jersey Light Trap), the South Cook County MAD employs 1 trap per 85 sq. miles. The North Shore MAD routinely employs 1 trap per 7.66 sq miles representing an ~11-fold difference in surveillance efforts; and
WHEREAS, Cook County has an interest in ensuring the efficacy of critical public health services, including mosquito and mosquito-borne disease surveillance, the promotion of personal protective measures, the reduction or elimination of mosquito breeding sites, larval reduction to prevent adult mosquitos, and contingency wide-area adult mosquito control are uniformly conducted throughout the County according to CDC guidelines and an integrated mosquito management approach; and
WHEREAS, each entity conducting mosquito control in Cook County has varying operational systems, policies and procedures, reporting and data management capacity making any assessment of mosquito abatement activities and programmatic success more challenging; and
WHEREAS, the Cook County Office of Inspector General (OIIG) and the Chicago Sun-Times have documented ethics, management, financial issues and conflicts of interest at the South Cook County Mosquito Abatement District, the largest of the four districts; and
WHEREAS, a 2021 Office of Inspector General report noted the South Cook Mosquito Abatement District “for a testing regime that lags those of the other districts, spends less money on vector testing and control programs, and fails to cooperate with the Illinois of Public Health”; and
WHEREAS, the South Cook Mosquito Abatement District covers populations that have a higher share of communities at risk than other Mosquito Abatement Districts, raising concerns of increased threats to public health, disparities in service and inequity. A less than fully functioning Mosquito Abatement District fails to prevent disease and doesn’t fulfill the purpose of equally protecting all Cook County residents under state law; and
WHEREAS, it is anticipated that climate change will result in an increase in vector borne diseases, some of which may be prevented by effective mosquito abatement; and
WHEREAS, mosquito abatement is carried out with vastly different methods, different levels of effectiveness, different levels of safety throughout Cook County resulting in an inequitable distribution of services, and widening health inequities; and
WHEREAS, based on OIIG reports, the Civic Federation report, and documentation to date, the patchwork of mosquito abatement services, including mosquito abatement districts, may not be equally fulfilling their important purpose; and
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, the County through the Cook County Department of Public Health should conduct an assessment of mosquito abatement activities across suburban Cook County and make recommendations regarding improvements and governance to ensure consistency of services across suburban Cook County and assess how such options are impacted by State law. The Cook County Department of Public Health should include stakeholder engagement which may include but not be limited to other local public health departments, academic institutions, the Cook County Department of Environmental Sustainability, the MADs and the Forest Preserve District of Cook County in determining their recommendations; and
FURTHER BE IT RESOLVED, that the Cook County Department of Public Health should report their recommendations to the President and Cook County Board of Commissioners on or before May June 1, 2026.
end