FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Sherry Bradley, (334) 206-5375
In an effort to educate Alabama teenagers about protecting themselves, their families, and their friends from mosquito bites and mosquito-borne diseases like the Zika virus, the Alabama Department of Public Health (ADPH) and the Alabama Environmental Health Association
(AEHA) are sponsoring a video contest for Alabama high school-age students.
Each video must include basic information on what precautions to take to avoid mosquito breeding and bites. Submissions must be made by teenagers ages 15-19 residing in the state of Alabama and entering their sophomore, junior or senior years in August/September 2016. No
entry fee will be charged for the contest. AEHA will make monetary awards as follows:
- First Place: $1,000
- Second Place: $750
- Third Place: $500
- Honorable Mentions (up to 4): $100
Fun and informative video entries must be between 30 seconds and 1 minute in length and must be uploaded to Vimeo or YouTube. The deadline for submissions is Monday, Aug. 22. A panel of judges comprised of AEHA committee members will select the winning videos that will be highlighted on ADPH’s social media sites (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest) and on ADPH.org. Winners will be announced Sept. 1. For full contest rules, and to get ideas from an ADPH YouTube Video, visit adph.org/mosquito.
“There is no vaccine for the Zika virus, so we are focusing our prevention measures on mosquito bites,” said Sherry Bradley, director of the Bureau of Environmental Services. “We need to eliminate standing water and other mosquito breeding sites. We believe teens can
communicate this important message in creative ways.”
As of July 11, there have been 11 travel-related positive test results for Zika cases or flavivirus (likely Zika) in Alabama.
Information about Zika is available at adph.org/mosquito.
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