Yosemite National Park receives more than four million visitors per year, attracting people from all over the world to take in the sights and sounds of the park. But sometimes there are unwanted guests that hitch a ride on luggage, clothing, vehicles or have made their way into the park due to climate change and other environmental factors. Lurking amongst the beauty of the rock faces, sprawling meadows, scenic waterfalls and majestic wildlife, are those familiar little pests that take a drink of blood from an unsuspecting human or animal and leave an itchy little bite in its place. You guessed it — mosquitoes. Typically, a mosquito bite is nothing more than an inconvenience – until it isn’t. Mosquitoes can carry vector-borne illnesses that can be deadly or cause permanent health complications, particularly in children.
Yosemite National Park is located in central California in the Sierra Nevada mountains with more than 1,200 square miles (nearly 95% designated wilderness) of public land and a diverse ecology, making it a perfect vector habitat. Park geography and limited resources have historically posed barriers to extensive mosquito surveillance efforts, resulting in a survey not being done in more than two decades.
WCU mosquito expert steps in
For the past 15 years, Brian Byrd, professor of environmental health sciences and supervisor of the Mosquito and Vector-Borne Infectious Disease Facility in the School of Health Sciences at WCU, has been doing extensive research on vector-borne illnesses transmitted by mosquitoes.
In 2022, alumnus George Carroll ’09, acting deputy epidemiology branch chief and regional public health consultant for the National Park Service, stopped by to see Byrd on his way back from a training in Asheville and shared the struggles he was having in terms of monitoring mosquitoes. “We got to talking and I shared the problems we were having with mosquitoes and the sheer size of the park, which is roughly the size of Rhode Island,” Carroll said. “He expressed interested in helping, and the rest is history.” Carroll’s sister attended WCU, so it was an easy and familiar choice for him. Initially a marketing major, Carroll stumbled into an into environmental health class where he learned about mosquito-borne diseases and bioterrorism and was immediately convinced that was the major for him. Carroll was one of Byrd’s first students when he came to WCU. Years later, the two have worked together to come up with a plan to conduct a multiyear mosquito survey in Yosemite.
"Hantavirus and ticks have been the main focus of vector-borne illness monitoring,” Carroll said. “Three people died from a hantavirus outbreak in 2012 and ticks have tested positive for Lyme in the park and we also deal with rodents carrying plague. Mosquito monitoring has not been at the forefront of surveillance, coupled with lack of resources and manpower, has made it difficult to know exactly what types of mosquitoes are in the park.”
The entire story of Byrd and his teams research and adventure are attached in the release below - and well worth the read.
And if you are a journalist covering mosquitoes, vector-borne illnesses or just curious about the subject matter- then let us help.
Brian Byrd's research focuses on domestic mosquito‐borne diseases. He is available to speak with media - simply click on his icon now to arrange an interview today.
