Vectors & Pests Webinars

We aim to improve our capacity to identify and understand emerging vectors found in the United States. Our webinars provide up-to-date information on vector control topics and resources used to protect the public from the transmission of vector-borne diseases.

Rodent Control Webinar Series

Rodent Control Foundations: Behavior, Risks, and Real-World Challenges

Tuesday October 28, 2025

2:00pm ET

Rodents are among the most persistent and destructive pests in the United States, posing serious health, safety, and structural concerns in both residential and commercial settings. This webinar explores the foundational principles of rodent control through a close look at the most commonly encountered species in the United States, highlighting how their biology and behavior drive infestation patterns and shape effective control strategies.

Inspection techniques will be addressed, with attention to identifying signs of rodent activity, locating entry points, and recognizing conditions that support infestation. A key component of the webinar will be the introduction to Integrated Pest Management (IPM) strategies where Janet Hurley, ACE, MPA, Senior Extension Program Specialist – IPM at Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service, will emphasize the importance of using multiple tactics—such as exclusion, sanitation, monitoring, trapping, and targeted rodenticide applications—for long-term control and prevention. The discussion will also address the proper use, and common misuse, of rodenticides along with considerations related to safety and regulatory compliance.

Through this comprehensive exploration, the session offers a practical foundation for addressing one of the most adaptable and challenging pests in modern pest management.

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Rodent Control Frontiers: Monitoring Technology and the Science Behind Smarter Solutions

Wednesday November 12, 2025

2:00pm ET

For decades, rodent management has relied on the same old formula—bait, traps, and routine technician visits. But despite enormous investments from global cities and industries, rodents continue to thrive, wreaking havoc on infrastructure, utilities, food systems, and supply chains. With billions in damages each year and traditional methods falling short, the pest control industry faces a critical turning point. The old tools aren’t keeping pace with the scale of the challenge.

Now, a new generation of monitoring technology is rewriting the playbook. By collecting real-time data, identifying behavioral patterns, and using AI to forecast risks, pest control professionals can move from reactive extermination to proactive prevention. These innovations don’t just reduce infestations—they save time, cut costs, and support sustainability goals.

In this forward-looking webinar, Michael Moran, CMO and Chief Risk & Sustainability Officer, and Courtney Carace, Owner and COO of Pest-End, will guide participants through how digital tools and data-driven insights are transforming the industry and giving professionals the upper hand in a battle that has raged for centuries.

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Part II: The Importance of Understanding Resistance Mechanisms and Management Theories

January 16, 2025

Insecticide resistance occurs when genetic changes in mosquitos, driven by insecticide exposure, compromise control efforts in the field. Laboratory and field tests play a critical role in determining whether an insecticide or product remains effective. In this webinar, Jennifer McAllister discussed resistance mechanisms and their impact on cross- and multi-resistance, highlighting how identifying these mechanisms can inform alternative control strategies. She also explored the three key theories of resistance management--moderation, saturation, and multiple methods--to provide practical approaches for tackling resistance.

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Part I: Basic Principles of Resistance Development and Detection Before Product Failure

December 12, 2024

Mosquitoes are highly effective disease vectors, transmitting illnesses to humans, pets, and livestock. While the most prominent mosquito-borne diseases vary by region, some—like malaria and dengue—are now spreading to new areas, including recent cases in the United States. During outbreaks, insecticides are the primary tool for controlling pathogen transmission, but resistance can make outbreaks harder to manage. In this webinar, Janet McAllister, Principal Research Entomologist for the City of New Orleans Mosquito, Termite, and Rodent Control Board, discussed insecticide resistance, its development, factors that influence it, and methods for detecting resistance before insecticides lose effectiveness.

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Find It and Fix It: Effective Strategies for Bed Bug Inspection, Control, and Personal Protection

November 5, 2024

Sometimes finding the problem is the easy part! Join Susannah Krysko, MS, from the StopPests in Housing Program as she takes a deeper dive into bed bugs. This session will focus on moving beyond simply identifying the problem by exploring effective solutions using integrated pest management (IPM). IPM is a pest control strategy that encompasses prevention and non-chemical tools in addition to pesticide treatments. You’ll discover the advantages and disadvantages of various treatments, how to troubleshoot chronic infestations, and confirm elimination. Personal protection methods to prevent a bed bug exposure from becoming an infestation in your own home will be shared. Don’t miss this opportunity to become an advocate for better pest management in your community.

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Mosquito and Rodent Control Preparedness

June 5, 2024

Over the past two decades, the prevalence of vector-borne diseases has surged, surpassing the capacity of existing infrastructure to effectively manage them. To safeguard public health, it is imperative to bolster our frontline defenses, including mosquito abatement districts, environmental public health, and pest management professionals. In this webinar, Claudia Riegel explored the principles of vector control preparedness, outlining the necessary level of commitment and infrastructure required to protect both human and animal populations in the aftermath of a natural disaster.

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Integrated Rodent Management

May 21, 2024

Rodent control represents one of the largest concerns, contributing to the bottom line of establishments throughout North America and around the globe. And thanks to population growth, urbanization, and favorable environmental conditions, rodents are thriving. Against this backdrop of expanding rodent populations, it’s more important than ever for consumers and regulators to have a thorough understanding of the latest IPM techniques for managing these pervasive pests. Rodents transmit many diseases that can cross over to humans and domestic animals.

In this webinar, Janet Hurley covered the basics of commensal rodent biology and behavior, with tips on how to prevent, exclude and manage an ever-growing population of nuisance pests.

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Integrated Mosquito Management

May 7, 2024

Mosquitoes are effective disease vectors, transmitting diseases to humans, pets, and livestock. While the most prominent mosquito-borne diseases vary by region, diseases that were once confined to certain geographic areas are spreading due to climate change and increasing globalization. Managing mosquito populations should be done in a way that does not rely solely on the use of pesticides. Integrated mosquito management utilizes a combination of methods and data-based decision making to control mosquitoes and break the disease cycle, utilizing our understanding of the mosquito life cycle, behaviors, and how they spread diseases. Alexandros Pavlakis covered mosquito biology, mosquito-borne diseases, and the core pillars of an integrated mosquito management system with examples from a municipal mosquito control agency.

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Introduction to Vector Management: What is a vector and why are they a concern?

This webinar is intended as an introduction to the world of vector control and management. We share the necessary information to enable environmental health professionals to better identify vector species from other environmental public health pests of concern. There is a panel discussion from experts in the field following a presentation by Dr. Caroline Efstathion, member of our Vector Control Program Committee.

The panel discussion is moderated by our Sub-Committee Chair, Nina Dacko, Associate Director at the Harris County Public Health Mosquito and Vector Control Division, and features top experts in the field, including CDC’s Team Lead of Entomology and Ecology, Dr. Roxanne Connelly, National Park Service’s Epidemiology Branch Chief, Dr. Maria Said, and American Mosquito Control Association’s Technical Advisor, Dr. Daniel Markowski.

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Sterile Insect Technique: Innovative Tools for Controlling Invasive Mosquitoes

The mosquito control industry refers to the Sterile Insect Technique (SIT) as the release of altered male mosquitoes that cause the production of no offspring or produce offspring that will not survive to the adult stage when they mate with local female mosquitoes in the wild. In light of resistance to pesticides, changes to the regulatory landscape, increased mosquito-borne disease transmission, globalization of invasive mosquitoes, predicted impacts of global climate change, and limitations on the investment of new insecticide classes for mosquito control, there is a need for new approaches that do not have the same pitfalls as the currently used technology. When integrated with other control strategies, the SIT method has been successful in controlling a number of high-profile insect pests, including fruit flies, tsetse flies, screwworms, moths, and mosquitoes. Public health professionals from two mosquito abatement districts shared their experience with this technique.

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Integrated Tick Management: Strategies and Barriers to the Prevention of Tick-Borne Disease

Tick-associated diseases, mainly Lyme disease, are increasing, new diseases are being discovered, and various tick species are expanding their geographic range posing an increasing risk to the public. Ticks can be acquired outdoors around the home or during recreational activities, the risk of which will increase with warmer weather and as people seek escape from "quarantine fatigue." Dr. Stafford will briefly cover ticks, tick-borne disease incidence, and basic tick biology, and then review various environmental methods for tick-bite prevention and tick control. He will also highlight some of the barriers to effective tick management and tick-bite prevention in the United States.

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May 2020 | Slides PDF