NMRCD Entomology: Implications for vector-borne diseases in Central and South America, a civilian collaborator's perspective

The DoD is a leading funder of research in the Neglected Tropical Diseases Coalition of which the most important are vector-borne diseases. Since its inception in 1983, the Naval Medical Research Center Detachment – Peru (NMRCD-Peru) has been a leader in operational research and surveillance of vector-borne infectious diseases that threaten both local populations and military personnel in the region, including malaria, dengue fever, yellow fever, viral encephalitides, other arboviroses, ricketsioses, leishmaniasis, and Chagas’ disease. The entomology program at NMRCD-Peru serves as a regional platform for conducting research and assisting in surveillance throughout the Americas and is enhanced by productive relationships with Ministries of Health and Ministries of Defense and collaborations with USAID, U.S. CDC, U.S. NIH, PAHO, and a number of regional and American universities. Cross-disciplinary integrated studies of both pathogen and vector are carried out between the Departments of Entomology, Virology, and Parasitology in the Amazonian City of Iquitos, Peru, where NMRCD-Peru has 90 permanent field laboratory and staff. Studies include over 10 years of research focusing on the role of Aedes aegypti in the transmission dynamics of dengue fever, including the evaluation of novel intervention strategies to control the vector, malaria transmission studies for vaccine studies, biology, taxonomy, population dynamics and distribution of mosquito vectors of Plasmodium and arboviruses, as well as monitoring insecticide resistance if important vector species throughout Peru and Ecuador and evaluation of new repellent formulations and personal protection devices. In addition to Iquitos NMRCD has ongoing studies on semiochemical attractants for sand flies in Colombia and are constructing a mass-rearing facility of Anopheles albimanus in Northwestern, Peru. This presentation will provide an overview of previous and ongoing projects as well as future opportunities in Military entomology.