GLOSSARY
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707-285-2200 (office)
707-285-2210 (fax)
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Cotati, California
94931-9736
HOURS
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7:00am to 3:30pm
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- Algae
- - aquatic plants that can clog ponds or streams and allow mosquito larvae to hide from fish and other predators.
- Arbovirus
- - a virus whos life cycle includes transmission by arthropods.
- Arthropod
- - an invertebrate animal with jointed legs and a segmented body (includes flies, mosquitoes, ticks; also centipedes, scorpions, spiders etc.)
- Autochthonous
- - native to a place; not imported; used to describe a disease transmitted by vectors that
became infected from a local source.
- Endemic
- - a disease naturally present in certain human or animal populations.
- Epidemic
- - a disease outbreak affecting certain human or animal populations.
- Enzootic
- - a disease naturally present in certain animal populations (sometimes used in contrast
with "endemic").
- Epizootic
- - a disease outbreak affecting certain animal populations (sometimes used in contrast
with "epidemic").
- Host
- - a living organism that serves as a blood source for blood-feeding arthropods, or on
which a parasite lives. Intermediate host - the arthropod carrier of a parasitic organism.
- IPM
- - (Integrated Pest Management); a system for minimizing the impact of vectors and pests
by using a variety of control procedures, and decreasing the chemical input to the environment.
- Microbial insecticide
- - an insecticide made of bacteria whose infection kills insects; a substance produced by
bacteria that is lethal to insects.
- Palpi
- - the jointed feelers on each side of the mouth of some arthropods.
- Probosis
- - The straw-like sucking mouthparts of some blood feeding arthropods.
- Reservoir
- - an animal population that normally harbors a disease-causing organism capable of being
transmitted to man or other animal populations.
- Rickettsia
- - a group of small bacteria that live inside tissue cells, and are carried by ticks, mites,
fleas or lice.
- Smudge pot
- - container used to hold a substance producing dense smoke; used to drive away insects.
- ULV
- - Ultra Low Volume; a method of insecticide distribution in which a small portion of the
compound is fragmented into extremely fine particles for aerial dispersal.
- Vector
- - An arthropod carrier of a disease producing organism. Usually used when part of the organism's
natural life cycle takes place in the arthropod (= intermediate host).
- Vector-borne disease
- - A disease carried by arthropod intermediate hosts.
- Vector control
- - Management of organisms that carry disease.
- Zoonosis
- - A disease of animals that may be secondarily transmitted to man.