ADVANCEMENT OF THE SCIENCE
INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVES/GUEST COMMENTARY
Managing Mosquito-Borne Diseases as an Emergency for Mosquito Control: The South Korean Experience
Kyoo-Man Ha Rabdan Academy
making individuals healthier (Dubé et al., 2022; Yelton et al., 2023). Public health communication includes many subfactors such as understanding health concepts, developing health information, utilizing research and development, and improving cultural competency. Getting involved in these activities and interventions via inte- grated emergency management can engage the general public through public health communication, thus, influencing and changing their traditional behavior toward mosquito-borne diseases. South Korea (hereafter referred to as Korea) often faces mosquito-borne diseases during summer months. The three major genera in the region include Aedes spp., Culex spp., and Anopheles spp. (Seo et al., 2021). Mosquito-borne diseases include malaria, Japanese encephalitis, filariasis, dengue, West Nile virus, and Zika virus (NEHA, 2021). During globalization, for- eign mosquito-borne diseases have also been imported to Korea via travelers or workers entering the country. From the viewpoint of geographic area, this article includes almost all areas of Korea, in consideration of the large psychological impact of mosquito- borne emergencies on the public within a relatively small territory. Korea has not fully addressed the issue of mosquito-borne diseases within the frame- work of integrated emergency management. Instead, the nation has stuck to its current centralized chemical response. If left unad- dressed, this situation might cause a catas- trophe for the nation, which comprises approximately 50 million people (Byrne & Corrado, 2021). Simultaneously, the situa- tion in Korean might have implications for
b8tract Although the threat of mosquito-borne diseases has increased, South Korea has not regarded this issue as an emergency for mosquito control. This article aims to examine how to improve the situation in South Korea with the goal of reducing, if not eliminating, adverse impacts. Currently, South Korea has implemented centralized chemical responses to mosquito-borne diseases. This response, however, is insufficient and as such, the implementation of integrated emergency management is needed. Finally, neighboring nations could use this case as a criterion for evaluating their own integrated systems while expanding multiple networks with other nations.
Introduction Vectors by definition carry diseases and play an important role in transmitting pathogens from sources to hosts. Pests are considered a nuisance and sometimes, but not always, carry diseases. Mosquitoes can be either vec- tors or pests that harbor in standing water, displaced wildlife, and debris, as well as result from poor sanitary conditions and environmental changes (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2023). Mosquito vectors have become a global public health issue by increasing mortality and zoonosis after the occurrence of natural hazards such as typhoons and floods (Staples et al., 2023). The principles of integrated vector man- agement or integrated pest management are widely used to deal with mosquito-borne dis- eases (National Environmental Health Asso- ciation [NEHA], 2021; World Health Orga- nization [WHO], 2023). These principles coordinate various types of information, envi- ronmental information, and control methods
to reduce potential threats to humans. They also require limiting and regulating water, food, and harborage sites. The use of integrated emergency manage- ment in this article focuses on the concept of mosquito-borne disease emergencies, which has been used worldwide in the 21st century via utilizing cutting-edge infor- mation, communication technology, and modes of transportation (Yildirim, 2023). This approach emphasizes the significance of networking among various stakeholders through major institutions and their associ- ated functions. By relying on proven eec- tive methods (e.g., improvement of surveil- lance, response capacity, integrated actions and coordination), these stakeholders can save human lives by controlling mosquito- borne diseases. In terms of public health communication, integrated emergency management plays an important role in helping individuals make better decisions on health issues, thus,
16
Volume 86 • Number 3
Powered by FlippingBook