During the summer months, the District receives numerous calls regarding yellowjackets and paper wasps. These social wasps both have yellow and black markings and are common in San Mateo County, but they have important behavioral differences.
District laboratory staff conducted a rodent survey for hantavirus with California Department of Public Health (CDPH) staff on June 4-5 in La Honda. Peromyscus truei (pinyon mice) and Peromyscus californicus (parasitic mice) were trapped and blood samples were taken for testing. Kidney samples from any mice with positive blood samples will also be tested by the CDPH to be used for a study of the geographical distribution of different hantavirus strains in California.
