The long hot summer of mosquito and media wrangling

“Webb’s a mosquito researcher with NSW Health Pathology, and while it may sound like potentially the worst job in the world to the rest of us, it’s important work.” – Ten Daily, 14 Jan 2019.

Every summer I’m required to juggle those pesky mosquitoes and help out with requests from media. Over the past 6 months or so I’ve responded to about 70 media requests and here is a round up of some fun highlights and other bits and pieces.

There was a wide range of media requests this summer, from morning TV through to talkback radio, podcasts and live interviews via Skype. There was once a time when the only acceptable way to do a radio interview was via landline connected phone. This summer I did interviews via mobile, Skype, and various  smartphone apps! Times are a changing.

A fun segment on Channel 7’s ‘Sunrise’ breakfast show on why mosquitoes bite some people more than others; always a challenge taking in a cage a live mosquitoes to the studio, especially travelling in via public transport!

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A hot and dry summer must mean less mosquitoes, right?

The outlook for the 2018-2019 “mosquito season” was for it to be fairly routine. The Bureau of Meteorology was predicting a hot and dry summer under the influence of El Nino. At the time I wrote a piece for The Conversation highlighting that just because it was dry, that didn’t mean we wouldn’t see plenty of mosquitoes.

In coastal regions of Australia, tidal flooding of local wetlands often offsets any impact due to lack of rainfall. Mosquitoes such as Aedes vigilax certainly respond well and there were some very high mosquito numbers recorded in early spring. Usually, the media interest in mosquitoes starts increasing once the politicians break for the summer, this year there was plenty of interest early on!

NSW Health also issued a media release to get the community thinking about the potential mosquito impacts ahead of the summer holiday period and asked me to be the spokesperson. These warnings often prompt a different range of media interest, usually news bulletins for radio. Unlike the traditional radio interviews in which you’re responding to the host’s questions, only “grabs” (short statements regarding the topic) are required. I’ve learned there is a fine art to being concise in these statements and it pays to give some thought to what you’ll say ahead of calling up the news desk!

Some of the media coverage in early summer was less about bites and more about why mosquitoes disturb your sleep! I spoke with Channel Ten about how you can beat these bedroom buzzers! Here are some tips on beating the buzz of mosquitoes in the bedroom.

These concerns about mosquitoes in the bedroom prompted questions about the suitability of mosquito coils as a person protection measures. I’d written about this issue before but there was also some media coverage at the Daily Telegraph and Sydney Morning Herald.

There was also a funny segment on The Project:

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Warm weather, warm blood, and hungry mosquitoes

As summer kicked in, I did a bunch of “pre-season” interviews about the outlook for the mosquito activity ahead. One of them was with the Sydney Morning Herald. There was also a piece in Illawarra Murcury on the mosquitoes around Newcastle. I even chatted with ABC Illawarra about the mosquitoes bringing in the new year along the NSW coast. I also chatted with the team at the Daily Mail. Also the Daily Telegraph.

Once summer really hit (and the mosquitoes really started biting following heavy rains), everyone’s mind turned to one of the most commonly asked questions….why do mosquitoes bite me more than my friends? You can check out my contribution to a story by ABC Science below:

The usual coverage of mosquito impacts during the Australia Day holiday also popped up. Will my diet influence the likelihood of being bitten? I spoke with Channel Ten. The University of Sydney media team also put out a piece on why what you eat or drink makes not difference when it comes to stopping mosquito bites. A story picked up and republished by ABC News.

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Combining fieldwork and media requests

“Ballina council is calling in an expert to hunt for some ladies – Medical Entomologist Dr Cameron Webb will visit the area next week in search of blood sucking girls.” – EchoNet Daily, Ballina

While undertaking some work for Ballina Shire Council on the NSW far north coast, I helped out managing a few media requests associated with local mosquito problems and the work of council. It was fun squeezing in some print, TV, radio, and social media activities between the work in the wetlands.

I also participated in a “Q and A” on the Ballina Shire Council Facebook page where residents could ask questions about how best to protect themselves from mosquitoes. See here.

Mosquito-borne disease in the city

The detection of Ross River virus in mosquitoes around Sydney sparked some additional interest from media (and anxiety from local community). Coverage in Sydney Morning Herald here.  It prompted me to write an article about what the actual health implications were of finding the pathogen in a heavily urbanised areas such as the Parramatta River compared to the more bushland dominated Georges River.

The issue of wildlife and their role in urban transmission cycles of Ross River virus is always a tricky one. How do you balance wildlife conservation and mitigation of health risks? Together will colleagues I wrote about this at The Conversation.

The media coverage of the Ross River virus detection provided an opportunity for NSW Health Pathology to share some insights into how we research local mosquitoes and the pathogens they’re carrying. See below for a short video from the mangroves along the Parramatta River.

Did you know we monitor mosquitoes around the state to provide public health advice to @NSWHealth? Here’s our mozzie guru @Mozziebites (Dr Cameron Webb) explaining how we do this important work! pic.twitter.com/zpCTs7p3DL

— NSW Health Pathology (@NSWHPathology) January 10, 2019

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Declining insects, increasing mosquitoes, and the need to spray our backyards

One of the other stories bubbling along during the last year or so were the reports of declining global insect populations. I first spoke to the media about this issue back in early 2018. I was quoted in a couple of other stories too, clearly there was a lot of interest in this issue. This story gained plenty of attention and I spoke with various radio and print media about this challenge were facing with potential insect declines and how we can measure them. I even wrote an article about whether mosquitoes may be in decline too!

I spoke about this issue, and more generally about mosquitoes on an episode of the Science on Top podcast too.

There has been suggestions that insecticides may be contributing to declining insect populations. Earlier in the year, I was one of the coauthors of a paper that called for the need to better understand integrated pest control in our cities and become less reliant on insecticides. There was also an associated article at The Conversation. This was also republished at Domain.

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Floods in the north, floods in the south

The incredible flooding around Townsville in far north QLD created some major concern. Despite some initial concerns about increased mosquito risk, there weren’t any substantial increases in mosquito-borne disease reported. I spoke to ABC News about the potential risks.

The flooding that did trigger a big boost in mosquito numbers occurred in SE QLD and northern NSW. Local wetlands were inundated by tides and rain, resulting in some phenomenal numbers of mosquitoes in early autumn. I spoke to ABC and Great Lakes Advocate about the climatic factors that triggered this unusual mosquito activity.

Everyone was on weather watch late in the season too. A few extra downpours prompted concerns about more increases in autumn mosquito populations. I spoke with Sydney Morning Herald after a particularly wet weekend in March.

Finally, I helped the Australian Academy of Science make a video exploring why mosquitoes bite and how to stop them!

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Join the conversation on Twitter, did you catch me talking mosquitoes this summer? Did it help you protect your family from mosquito bites?

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Mosquitoes feed on frogs, very small frogs…

I was excited to be asked back on the Science on Top podcast recently to record an episode about mosquitoes, currently declines in insect populations (are mosquitoes on the way out too?), and whether recent flooding in north QLD would result in increased mosquito populations and risk of mosquito-borne disease outbreak.

Please subscribe to the podcast, its a really fun and relaxed look at whats making headlines in the science world. The crew themselves describe the podcast as:

The Australian podcast about science, health and technology news. Join Ed Brown and his panel of co-hosts each week as we talk about the latest and coolest research and discoveries in the world of science. We’re joined by special guests from all over the science field: doctors, professors, nurses, teachers and more.

If you’re interested, you can chase up my previous guest spot with them talking “Everything Zika” back in 2016.

I still hold some aspirations of starting my own podcast. Problem is finding the time (there isn’t even enough time to catch up on my podcast “to do” list). Perhaps this is a project for the coming summer.

Would you listen to a podcast about mosquitoes and the people who study them?

You can catch up on a couple of other podcasts I’ve guested on over the past few years. Check out Flash Forward (The Ultimate Swatting) and Arthropod (Getting to Know Mosquitoes).

Oh, and mosquitoes do feed on frogs. Frog blood, not the whole thing. It would have to be a very small frog…

 

 

 

Preparing for the exotic mosquito invasion of Australian backyards

While Australia has hundreds of “home-grown” mosquitoes, it is just a few from overseas that have authorities on alert. Preparing for these new risks is critical if the future pest and public health risks associated with mosquitoes are to be effectively managed. Citizen scientists may hold the key to success!

A project underway in the Northern Rivers region of NSW is set to build a framework for responding to the threats of exotic mosquitoes. This is in association with the Building Resilience to Climate Change program, a partnership program between Local Government NSW (LGNSW) and the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage (OEH) to address identified climate change risks and vulnerabilities facing NSW councils.

Lead by Tweed Shire Council, the program “Developing and trialing a Northern Rivers Emerging Vector Response Plan” is designed to build capacity among local stakeholders in the region to better respond to possible introductions of exotic mosquitoes from overseas (or perhaps travelling south from Queensland).

The mosquitoes that pose the greatest risk are Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus. As well as being severe nuisance-biting pests, these mosquitoes can transmit pathogens of serious public health concern such as Zika, dengue and chikungunya viruses. The mosquitoes aren’t found in local wetlands, they prefer backyard water-holding containers. This means that should these mosquitoes make their way to NSW, local authorities must shift their focus from the swamps to the suburbs.

There is already a program in place monitoring mosquitoes and the pathogens they carry in NSW. This program is primarily focused on Ross River virus and the mosquitoes that transmit this pathogen. As a consequence, mosquito collections are typically in bushland or wetland areas adjacent to urban areas and may not readily pick up exotic mosquitoes that have moved into local backyards.

Authorities must expand their approach and develop strategic responses to these exotic threats.

Representatives of local stakeholders help survey 300 backyards in Tweed Heads!

This work is already underway. A workshop for local stakeholders was held in December 2017 in Tweed Heads along with a two day field exercise in which around 300 residential backyards were surveyed for potential mosquito habitats. A wide range of potential sources of mosquitoes was identified, the most common were water-filled plants (particularly bromeliads), pot-plant saucers, buckets, wheel burrows, garden ornaments, and rainwater tanks.

The survey highlighted how important community involvement in the program is and “citizen science” is currently being employed to assess some mosquito surveillance technologies in backyards across the Tweed Heads region.

Supported by a grant from the Human Health and Social Impacts Node, a partnership between the Office of Environment and Heritage, NSW Health and The University of Sydney, over 150 mosquito traps were deployed and it is hoped that the mosquitoes they collect will help inform the development of strategic mosquito surveillance in the future.

An example of the mosquito traps deployed across two suburbs in Tweed Heads to collect eggs from mosquitoes buzzing about backyards

Whats needed now is a better understanding of how the community thinks about mosquitoes and how they’re trying to make their backyard less favourable for these pests.

Residents in the Local Government Areas of Tweed, Byron, Ballina, Richmond Valley, Clarence Valley, Lismore and Kyogle are invited to participate in a short survey. It is a great way to learn how to reduce the risks of mosquito bites in your backyard (there is also an iPad that can be won!).

If you live in the areas mentioned, or know friends or family who do, please complete and/or share the details of the survey.

You can start the survey now!

There are many factors contributing to the future threat of  mosquitoes and mosquito-borne disease in Australia. Climate change or exotic mosquito introductions may be game changes but one of the most important considerations is the importance of community awareness and willingness to assist local health authorities.

Perhaps the new mosquito emoji will help too?

 

 

 

 

 

A flood of festive season media coverage

Spring is gone and with the arrival of summer comes the mosquitoes. Calls from the media inevitably follow shortly after. I have no doubt many journalists, broadcasters and producers have my name in their diaries, circled brightly in red, on the first day of summer!

It is a fun part of my job to deal with the media. Its more than just getting a chance to talk about mosquitoes and their role in the local environment, it also provides an opportunity to do some important public health communications around the issues of mosquito bite prevention and management of mosquito-borne disease.

Scorchers, sun protection, and buzzing bloodsuckers

What got the ball rolling this year was a joint media briefing arranged by ausSMC. Alongside colleagues talking about heat waves, summer storms, sun protection and bushfire, I shared some tips on protecting yourself from mosquito bites and mosquito-borne disease this summer. It was interesting speaking alongside Professor Sanchia Aranda, CEO of Cancer Council Australia, and comparing the ways we promote safe and effective use of sunscreens and mosquito repellents. This was picked up on in additional media coverage. Overall, there was over 300 local and international articles following this media briefing!

The briefing provided an opportunity to fill a gap in public health communication I’ve identified (and tried to fill) in recent years. Health authorities are pretty good at providing advice on choosing mosquito repellents but less so on using them effectively. Ensuring repellents are actually used effectively is the best way to increase the protection of the community against mosquito-borne disease.

In early December we held our “Sydney Ideas: Mosquitoes in the City” event at Westmead. This was a great opportunity to speak to the community and the well attended event prompted some broader interest in the work of presenters.

It was a pleasure being able to visit the studios of ABC Radio National with Prof Tony Capon, Professor of Planetary Health at the University of Sydney, to discuss with Philip Adams how urbanisation and a changing climate may influence local mosquito populations and mosquito-borne disease risk. I’m working more and more with Tony so nice to share the opportunity to talk about this initiative with him on national radio. You can listen back here. This work is strongly linked to the theme of the “Mosquitoes in the City” event and there is clearly much to learn regarding the place of mosquitoes, wetlands, wildlife and mosquito-borne disease at the fringes of our metropolitan regions under the influence of a changing climate and the ways urban design responds to the threat.

 

Why me? I wish mozzies would bite my friends instead!

There was another boost in interest resulting from a spot on ABC News 24 Weekend Breakfast. The accompanying online article explaining why mosquitoes are more likely to bite some people more than others then sparked considerable interest! What followed was a bunch of radio and television interviews.

There was also a follow up article at News.com.au and this was also picked up on “Kids News” who republished a modified version of the story together with some suggestions for classroom learning exercises. Nice.

There were two different experiences with ABC News. The appearance on Weekend Breakfast was great. I’ve done segments with Andrew Geoghegan and Miriam Corowa before, have always been impressed with their knowledge and interest. I really enjoy the relaxed feel on the show. Was also a pleasure working with Dale Drinkwater, the producer, who put together the segment and accompanying article.

A couple of days later I appeared on News Breakfast with Virginia Trioli. As the program is produced out of Melbourne, I had to do a live cross from the Sydney studios. I always find these interviews a little uncomfortable as I’m tucked away in a small, dark recording booth staring down a camera and hoping my ear piece doesn’t fall out! I’m sure there is an art to these but I’m not sure I’ve mastered that just yet.

Are you a mozzie magnet? There's a reason: https://t.co/phqishya6c pic.twitter.com/e6Yw0sJy5c

— News Breakfast (@BreakfastNews) December 4, 2017

 

Entomologist @Mozziebites explains why some people are "mosquito magnets" pic.twitter.com/HZFr1JFPaa

— ABC News (@abcnews) December 3, 2017

Once the mozzies start biting…

With the warm weather arriving and everyone’s minds turning to summer, there is always a flood of festive season-related media stories. Once the mozzie stories started popping up, many more media outlets starting running segments.

There were also warnings about the health threats of mosquitoes over the festive season from local health authorities.

I had the chance to visit many radio and television studios to conduct interviews, this time it was the first opportunity to visit the Macquarie Radio (home to 2UE and 2GB) for what turned out to be a relatively long (by commercial radio standards) interview with Tim Webster on Talking Lifestyle/2UE including a few callers asking about mosquito repellents, disease risk and what the “purpose” of mosquitoes actually is! Listen back via the Holiday and Home podcast.

Taking talkback can be tricky. I’m fortunate enough to have had an opportunity to do this reasonably routinely. I appreciate the opportunity to get a feel for what the community wants to know about mosquitoes, we should be taking these things into account when designing fact sheets and other communication material. There is no point in simply systematically repeating what has come before.

Live TV can also be tricky. I also had the chance to do segments on Channel Nine’s Today and Today Extra programs. These are always fun and I do find it fascinating to see how the behind-the-scenes production of these shows get put together.

As summer starts to heat up, so too does the swarms of our least favourite insects… Mosquitoes. These creatures leave an unlucky few covered in itchy red bites, while others go unscathed. We asked Dr Cameron Webb to bust some of the common myths for us. @Mozziebites #9Today pic.twitter.com/QexMKSVFfl

— The Today Show (@TheTodayShow) December 8, 2017

We're being warned a bumper mosquito season could lead to a spike in deadly and debilitating diseases. #9Today pic.twitter.com/kXIj2SWqgn

— The Today Show (@TheTodayShow) December 17, 2017

Even the local newspaper, the Parramatta Sun, ran a nice story with great shot of me among the mangroves of the Parramatta River. It is also fun dragging photographers out into the wetlands. This time a fun shot of me from a different perspective other than simply standing beside a mosquito trap!

There was certainly plenty of “buzz” (or should that be “hum”) about mosquitoes over recent weeks. Great to see other articles pop up by fellow science communicators as well as the occasionally celebrity. There can never be too many ways to get the message out!

The mosquito coil conversation

At the point where I thought everyone was getting sick of mosquitoes, my latest article on the safe and effective use of mosquito coils was published at The Conversation (as well as being republished by ABC News). To date there have been about 90,000 clicks on the article, highlighting just how interested people are in the topic.

There were a bunch of other interview requests on the back of this including ABC Sydney, ABC Brisbane and ABC Adelaide. You can listen back to my chat with James Valentine on ABC Nationwide Afternoons here.

It isn’t always easy managing media requests

To finish up, I think it is important to share some of the reality of wrangling all these media requests. Most importantly, it takes time. It takes time to prepare and it takes much more time to actually do these activities.

For live television appearances, that often only last a few moments, you’re typically asked to arrive at the studios 30-40min prior to scheduled interview. Notwithstanding the travel time back and forth from studios (often very early in the morning), this means the interruption to the day isn’t insignificant. There was one day that I participated in two different teleconferences while in transit to and between interviews at ABC in Ultimo and Channel Nine in Willoughby!

The other thing is that sometimes you’ll get bumped. I was scheduled to chat on a live television program that requested I bring along a cage of live mosquitoes. This is generally not a problem but it does take time, especially when I have to actually collect field caught mosquitoes especially for this purpose. Unfortunately, the segment got bumped on one day, rescheduled for the next and then bumped again for a second time.

It would be easy to get really upset in these circumstances but it is a reality of dealing with the media. Don’t take it personally as these things are mostly out of your control. If you’re keen to engage with the media, this is just one of the many challenges you’ll need to learn to manage.

Spot any other cool mozzie media things? Join the conversation on Twitter or Facebook!

 

Beware the thick skinned bed bugs (they’re beating our bug sprays)

Think you’re got thick skin? You may be able to brush off the odd insult but for bed bugs, their thick skin can ward off fatal doses of insecticides! This is just one way they’re beating our commonly used bug sprays.

The resurgence of bed bugs over the past couple of decades has been great fuel for media and pest control companies alike. From Paris to London and New York to Sydney, infestations in all forms of accommodation has made headlines.

Eradicating an infestation of bed bugs can be tricky, tricky and expensive. While control within the hospitality industry is improving, the impacts of bed bugs are now being felt in lower socioeconomic groups in the community. There are often financial barriers to effectively controlling infestations and controlling infestations is not getting any easier.

Working out why bed bugs are hard to kill

David Lilly is currently a postgraduate student in our lab undertaking his PhD with the University of Sydney. He has been doing some great work and its wonderful as a supervisor to see him starting to publish some of his research as he approaches the end of his candidature.

We’ve already published some research on bed bugs and insecticide resistance and the role of metabolic detoxification in driving this resistance (you can read about that work via at Entomology Today). However, some of the most exciting research has just been published and indicates that “thicker skinned” bed bugs are more resistant to pyrethroid insecticides.

It is one thing to demonstrate insecticide resistance in a pest but understanding why that resistance occurs is critical if we’re to develop more effective strategies to control bed bugs.

This project was inspired by a study that demonstrated that mosquitoes resistant to insecticides had thicker cuticle. Could the same phenomenon occur in bed bugs?

Working with the Australian Centre for Microscopy & Microanalysis at The University of Sydney, we were able to capture images of cross-sections of legs from resistant and susceptible strains of bed bugs. Measuring the cuticle thickness at various points and comparing those between the two strains of bed bugs allowed an assessment of changes in cuticle.

Those bed bugs resistant to insecticides had thicker cuticle. In fact, the cuticle of the resistant bed bugs was around 15% thicker. Thicker the cuticle, the tougher it is for insecticides to penetrate.

Given human’s propensity to use insecticides, it is little wonder our most loathsome pests, such as mosquitoes and bed bugs, are developing resistance. While there really aren’t many other options available to control bed bugs, insecticides will remain part of our pest control tool kit. Alternative strategies are always being considered but while insecticides remain, we need to be mindful of the development of resistance and ways we can slow (or overcome) that process.

Bed bug’s thick skins grab the media’s attention

The research has already received international media coverage thanks to the fantastic team at University of Sydney Media and Communications team. A quick “google news” search turns up over 70 news items reporting on the paper! You can catch up with coverage at Popular Science (Australia), Wired, USA Today, Daily Mail, Sydney Morning Herald, BBC, Newsweek, Gizmodo and Mirror.

The abstract for our paper is below:

Thickening of the integument as a mechanism of resistance to insecticides is a well recognised phenomenon in the insect world and, in recent times, has been found in insects exhibiting pyrethroid-resistance. Resistance to pyrethroid insecticides in the common bed bug, Cimex lectularius L., is widespread and has been frequently inferred as a reason for the pest’s resurgence. Overexpression of cuticle depositing proteins has been demonstrated in pyrethroid-resistant bed bugs although, to date, no morphological analysis of the cuticle has been undertaken in order to confirm a phenotypic link. This paper describes examination of the cuticle thickness of a highly pyrethroid-resistant field strain collected in Sydney, Australia, in response to time-to-knockdown upon forced exposure to a pyrethroid insecticide. Mean cuticle thickness was positively correlated to time-to-knockdown, with significant differences observed between bugs knocked-down at 2 hours, 4 hours, and those still unaffected at 24 hours. Further analysis also demonstrated that the 24 hours survivors possessed a statistically significantly thicker cuticle when compared to a pyrethroid-susceptible strain of C. lectularius. This study demonstrates that cuticle thickening is present within a pyrethroid-resistant strain of C. lectularius and that, even within a stable resistant strain, cuticle thickness will vary according to time-to-knockdown upon exposure to an insecticide. This response should thus be considered in future studies on the cuticle of insecticide-resistant bed bugs and, potentially, other insects.

The full citation is: Lilly DG, Latham SL, Webb CE, Doggett SL (2016) Cuticle Thickening in a Pyrethroid-Resistant Strain of the Common Bed Bug, Cimex lectularius L. (Hemiptera: Cimicidae). PLoS ONE 11(4): e0153302. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0153302

Download the paper for free directly from PLoS ONE!

Oh, and if you’re worried about picking up bed bugs on your next holiday, here are some tips!

 

Mozzie bites and tweet tracking

One of my favourite artists, Nat Russell, painted a wonderful portrait of me a couple of years ago. Perhaps think of this as me wading out into the sea of social media?

Could social media help beat the bite of mosquito-borne disease?

Social media won’t do it alone but I think it is definitely something Australian authorities should embrace. The only problem is, how do you measure the success of social media activity? Taking my activity on Twitter as a case study, I monitored the changes in follower number, “tweet type” and estimated reach and exposure of tweets over a six month period. This was during a time when I would normally be active in the media responding to  mosquito-borne disease outbreaks or general interest questions about mosquito biology.

As broad scale mosquito control programs are generally limited, Australian health authorities typically rely on the communication of personal protection strategies to reduce mosquito-borne disease risks. These personal protection strategies may include avoiding known mosquito habitats, wearing long sleeved shirts and long pants to create physical barriers to biting mosquitoes and the use of insect repellents. Messages are usually relayed to the public via media releases or online fact sheets.

I started using Twitter in September 2010 with the expectation that I could use the service to distribute those public health messages as well as news on mosquito and mosquito-borne disease research. I generally tweet material that is related to my position with NSW Health/Westmead Hospital/University of Sydney but my account is not an official source of information from those organisations. I generally keep “personal” tweets to a minimum.

I’d already had some experience with public health communications working groups. I consider my activity on Twitter to be an extension of that work. In particular, my work with the “Living with Mosquitoes” group in the Hunter region investigated new ways to raise awareness of mosquito-borne disease risk and communicate more effectively the benefits of personal protection strategies. A couple of the options we tried were the incorporation of “mosquito risk periods” into free tide charts and stickers designed for primary school students. We even briefly (unsuccessfully) experimented with using myspace to host some information.

Using Twitter to spread the message

How did I go about using Twitter to help spread the word on mosquito-borne disease? At first I was expecting to build a following directly with the public by growing the number of followers. What I’ve found, however, is that the greatest benefit of Twitter has been when it is used in association with traditional media activities. Tweets can be exchanged between myself and the presenter/broadcaster/publisher, particularly links to online resources/fact sheets, and then subsequently retweeted to their followers.

You can read more background about my use of Twitter for spreading mosquito-borne disease awareness in this article, “Can the buzz of mosquitoes be replaced with a tweet?”, recently published in “Mosquito Bites” – the newsletter of the Mosquito Control Association of Australia.

While I initially thought a large number of followers was important, I now realise that engagement with the media (as well as other active users of Twitter) may be the best way to enhance the way health messages can be promoted. It is our local media that play the primary role in disseminating public health information to the local community, perhaps Twitter is best used to build communication lines between journalists, scientists and local authorities?

Assessing activity on Twitter

I started to think of ways I could better assess my use of Twitter to help answer some of these questions. I first starting thinking about this after reading a great paper by Thackery et al. in 2012 titled “”Adoption and use of social media among public health departments”. The paper describes the social media activity of health departments and highlights that very few use social media to engage the community. Their use of social media is, as is the case for traditional media, a one-way direction of information. There is very little active engagement. The authors argue that the departments need to develop a strategic communication plan to expand their reach while fostering interactivity and engagement.

This is very much the case in Australia too. If you have a quick look at state health department Twitter accounts (e.g. NSW Health, QLD Health), there is very little (if any) engagement with other Twitter accounts (i.e. very few RTs or Replies).

Before the start of the 2012-2013 “mosquito season”, I decided to try and document some of my activity on Twitter using some free online analytics services. I am the first to admit, this was a pretty rough and ready way to collect data. It was really just an experiment to see what kind of data could be collected to document how my activity on Twitter changed over the course of the season.

Most of the information was collected weekly from TweetReach. This website collects data on your account including estimated reach (total number of unique accounts that receive tweets) and exposure (total number of times tweets are received by any account) as well as a breakdown of “tweet type” (e.g. tweets, retweets and replies). It samples the last 50 of your tweets to collect this data. I logged in every Saturday morning and downloaded the data. I tweet more than 50 times a week (on average over this period I tweeted about 70 times per week) so the data represented what was going on towards the end of each week. I started in early November 2012 and stopped at the end of April 2013.

So, what did the analysis of my Twitter activity reveal?

Firstly, did my followers change over this time? There was a steady increase in the number of my followers as shown in the chart below. Followers increased from 916 to 1406 over the six month period. I’m not exactly sure what this reveals but since there were no notable falls in the number of followers, perhaps it suggests that most followers find the tweets of interest (or at least not annoying enough to “unfollow”).

A chart showing the weekly growth in the number of followers from November 2012 through April 2013

Secondly, what did analysis of my “tweet types” show? There is generally a three way split in my activity between tweets, RT and replies. The trend remained fairly consistent over the six month period as shown in the chart below. Many of the RTs were tweets from various health authorities providing information on mosquito-borne disease outbreaks or other health related matter (e.g. infectious disease outbreaks, vaccination information, general health advice). It was generally a quiet season for mosquito-borne disease activity. The start of the season was marked by local activity of dengue in FNQ and the end of the season by activity of Ross River virus and Barmah Forest virus in SE QLD as well as SW WA. As a result, there was substantially less coverage of “mozzie stories” in the traditional media this season compared to previous years.

A chart showing the mix of tweets, retweets and replies in 50 of my weekly sampled tweets

Many of the replies I tweeted were promoted by questions directed towards me following my tweets. Some were requests for more information or clarification on mosquito-borne disease activity or for my thoughts on recently published studies or news reports. I made an effort to respond to everyone who tweeted me. Interestingly, a recent paper by Neiger et al. (2013) titled “Evaluating social media’s capacity to develop engaged audiences in health promotion settings: Use of Twitter metrics as a case study” identified the number of questions and interaction between a user and their followers as a measure of “medium engagement”.

Finally, what was the reach and exposure of my tweets over this six month period? This was some of the most surprising information. Despite a relatively modest number of followers, my average weekly reach as approximately 19,000 and estimated exposure approximately 45,000. Much of the added reach and exposure came from multiple RT of my messages, not only accounts with large followers (e.g. media outlets) but from RTs by multiple users with similarly modest follower counts. I think this information shows the power of a small but engaged group of followers.

Chart showing the “reach” and “exposure” of the 50 tweets in my weekly sample

What influenced changes in reach and exposure?

Following the release of a health warning by NSW Health in mid-December 2012 (it is typical of health departments to release a warning about the start of the mosquito season every year) combined with a piece on mosquitoes on The Conversation, I was asked to do a series of radio interviews, mostly with stations in the ABC radio network. All had Twitter accounts that retweeted my link to repellent use guidelines following the interview. There would also often be some additional questions and comments tweeted about following the interview that I could respond to.

It is also easy to often forget who is following these accounts. In the case of 702 Sydney, whose account has over 20,000 followers, following an interview on why some people are bitten more by mosquitoes than others, I even received a tweet from the NSW Premier.

The peak in estimated exposure of my Twitter account came in early January. This was following an appearance on the Today show (a nationally broadcast tv breakfast show). Following an appearance to talk about mosquito repellents and their use, I had a tweet of mine retweeted by the producers and host of the program and this was subsequently retweeted by a number of their followers too. It provided exposure of a link to my guidelines for mosquito repellent use to almost 100,000 unique twitter accounts (with estimated exposure of approximately 188,000). As a result, I had over 200 visitors view the guidelines within a couple of days. That may be less than 1% of the people that saw the original link but still a substantial jump in the amount of people who would have otherwise visited the guidelines. I wonder how many people visit the “mosquito fact sheet” on the NSW Health website after a media release goes out?

So, what does all this mean for the potential benefits of Twitter?

In short, I think it Twitter provides a complementary route of community engagement to traditional methods. It certainly doesn’t replace any of the traditional methods of community or media engagement but I think it will become increasingly important in the future. From my experience, the ability to engage with local media outlets greatly increases the potential reach and exposure of information you can provide. This is particularly the case when links can be tweeted (and hopefully retweeted) that direct people to credible sources of public health information. The more people are aware of the risks associated with mosquito-borne disease, and the strategies available to reduce those risks, the better the public health outcomes.

The analysis of the reach and estimated exposure of my tweets demonstrates how, even from a Twitter account with a modest number of followers, messages can reach a much larger audience. That audience can be increased by being more engaged with followers. It isn’t just the Twitter accounts of media outlets and journalists. I’ve found that there are many active Twitter users who tweet and retweet material covering a wide range of topics. These users are actively engaged with a large cross section of other users and when they retweet material, messages are received by accounts that may not even think to seek out an account tweeting about mosquito-borne disease!

I am confident that the use of Twitter can assist in getting the community more engaged in public health issues, not only mosquito-borne diseases! Developing better strategies for the use of social media (by both health departments and individuals) as well as an assessment of whether those strategies are successful is required.

Getting Off Track with Radio National

I had the pleasure of being interviewed by Joel Werner (pictured above) from Radio National’s Off Track program a couple of times over the past 12 months. Not surprisingly, it was about mozzies!

The first show was broadcast back in May 2012 and concentrated mostly on our work in the laboratory and some of the background to our field-based research into the development of strategies to reduce the risks of mosquito-borne disease in coastal Australia. Joel did a great job recording our interview in the noisy surrounds of our insectary at Westmead Hospital!

The second show was broadcast in March 2013. It was recorded out in the field. Joel and I took a stroll through the saltmarsh at Sydney Olympic Park and chatted about the various techniques of mosquito sampling. While Joel was able to get his feet wet out in the wetlands, I think he got off quite lightly when it comes to mozzies. I don’t think he got a single bite!

I was really happy with how both radio shows came together. They provide a really nice and informative overview of the work I do, combining some of the laboratory and field components of my day-to-day work. You can download each of the programs by following the links above.

Off Track is broadcast Saturday 1:30pm (Repeated: Sunday 6:30am) on Radio National (ABC). You can follow Joel on Twitter too for some insight into how the show is put together.

Summer mozzie media buzz

Trapping mosquitoes in the mangroves along the Parramatta River (from SMH 21 December 2012)

There is usually a bit of media interest in mosquitoes during the summer months.  As most people start thinking about lazy coastal holidays and endless BBQs, the topic of mosquitoes isn’t far from mind so it is no surprise that there is interest in the topic.

I was involved in two recent articles in local media. The Sydney Morning Herald ran a piece by Julie Power on my mosquito research and its contribution to understanding the health risks associated with coastal mosquito populations. This was a timely piece as NSW Health had recently issued a public health warning about mosquito numbers along the coast and the possible increased risk of Ross River and Barmah Forest virus during the holiday period.

The second article was by Matthew Kelly in the Newcastle Herald on my research project with Hunter-Central Rivers Catchment Management Authority on the Hexham Swamp Rehabilitation Project. After two years under relatively cool and wet La Nina weather patterns, mosquito populations associated with most coastal wetland areas were generally pretty low. The Newcastle Herald had run a story in early 2012 reporting our findings that mosquito populations associated with Hexham Swamp were actually relatively low. The shift back towards hot and dry El Nino conditions mark an increase in the suitability of habitats for the saltmarsh mosquito Aedes vigilax. We’re expecting to see increases in the abundance of this mosquito along the east coast of Australia over the coming summers. It will be interesting to see how populations of this mosquito associated with the Hexham Swamp Rehabilitation Project respond to these conditions.