New U.S. Army Mosquito Control Technology Licensed For Deployment Against Dengue

Main Category: Infectious Diseases / Bacteria / Viruses
Also Included In: Medical Devices / Diagnostics;  Tropical Diseases
Article Date: 19 Nov 2008 - 9:00 PST

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A novel, patented mosquito-killing technology developed by U.S. Army researchers under a long-term, joint-development agreement between the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research , the United States Army Medical Research and Materiel Command, and the U.S. Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine , and targeted at Dengue fever is headed for the field.

This technology can revolutionize control of Aedes mosquitoes, the primary vectors for dengue, hemorrhagic fever, yellow fever, and other serious mosquito-borne diseases. Malaria garners more publicity, but the World Health Organization and US Centers for Disease Control consider Dengue a major health threat, particularly in Brazil, India, and Pakistan. Dengue is the 3rd most serious infectious disease threat facing deployed U.S. Military. Dengue is a severe, viral, flu-like illness for which there is no specific treatment and no vaccine. It is called "bone-breaker" disease because it is so painful and disabling. Economic losses from dengue are a significant drain on developing world economies. The inadequacy of conventional mosquito insecticide control for this important disease carrier is well documented. SpringStar, Inc. has an exclusive license to the Army patents and has created the Tiger Trap™ for the Army, US mosquito abatement districts, and consumer sales.

Aedes mosquitoes only deposit their eggs in containers, preferably on the sides, and this novel invention exploits that characteristic. Conventional control approaches broadcast insecticide throughout the environment in hopes the insect will randomly contact a lethal quantity. In contrast, the Tiger Trap™ uses mosquitoes' irrepressible urge to deposit eggs to bring them in contact with a tiny lethal insecticide dose (1 millionth of a kilogram). The result is a safe, inexpensive, effective device that targets, with minimal insecticide or environmental impact, the disease-carrying female before she can bite another person and transmit disease. The effectiveness of the U.S. Army prototype trap is well documented through numerous field trials conducted with the U.S. Army in Brazil, Peru, Bangladesh, and Thailand.

Aedes aegypti and albopictus mosquitoes (Asian tiger) are growing in the United States and Europe (Science Magazine 'A Mosquito Goes Global' ). Aedes daytime biting habit makes outdoor life miserable in much of the US Southeast and Atlantic seaboard. 50% of the US is infested. 2.5 billion people are at risk from Dengue worldwide; 20-50 million are infected annually, with ~500,000 requiring hospitalization, and 15-20,000 dying.

SpringStar, Inc.