Environmental Health Service
Mission
The Environmental Health Service mission is to provide public health sanitation inspections and education for installation public facilities; surveillance of drinking water quality, medically important arthropods, and climatic conditions; environmental related public health consultative services; field sanitation training for all Fort Sam Houston and Camp Bullis company-sized elements; distribution of medical threat information; hospital hazardous waste, regulated medical waste, and environmental compliance monitoring; and hospital radiation protection coordination.
Entomologists
Army entomologists plan and direct comprehensive programs on control of pests and animals affecting human health and the environment. They routinely conduct surveys to determine prevalence, distribution, relative abundance and significant habits of medically important insects and other animals, identify insects and other zoological specimens and evaluate resistance of insects and other pests to pesticides.
Involved with:
- Insect-borne Disease Surveillance - Mosquito surveillance is generally conducted from May through October annually and on an as needed basis. Surveillance for other insects is conducted year-round. Proper surveillance of disease vectors such as ticks and mosquitoes can reveal the presence/absence of disease in these insects and can help to determine the most effective control strategies. From May through October, surveillance for West Nile Virus (WNV) in mosquitoes was consistently monitored.
- Integrated Pest Management Program – Assist the installation and its tenant organizations in evaluating, monitoring, and investigating hazards IAW the Fort Sam Houston Pest Management Plan.
- Pesticides – Provide consultation on the usage, application, storage, and the sale of pesticides on the installation.
- Education – The most effective way to combat pests and vector-borne threats is through education. Often, the solutions are very simple and require only slight changes in the habits of personnel to control or manage these insects.
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