Description:
OBJECTIVE: Develop fabric barrier with long-lasting repellent and/or insecticide for protecting deployed personnel against biting arthropods, for military use. Product must have potential for EPA registration and use compounds with low mammalian toxicity. DESCRIPTION: Protection of deployed ground forces from disease-carrying insects requires the immediate and safe use of insecticides, repellents and bednets. Vector-borne diseases transmitted by insects, such as malaria, dengue and leishmaniases, are on the increase world-wide and are more of a threat to our military forces today than they were 30 years ago. Unfortunately, insects that transmit militarily important diseases are now becoming resistant to an increasing number of public health insecticides used for indoor residual sprays and space spray (aerosol) applications with little global R & D underway to search for replacements. Moreover, topical repellents and bednets approved for military use have a low compliance rate. One potential solution to improving compliance is to supplement the military"s current personal protective system found in the AFPMB"s Technical Guide 36,"Personal Protective Measures Against Insects and Other Arthropods of Military Significance", with an effective personal or area repellent. Such an area repellent or repellent/toxicant combination would reduce the need for a bed net and use of topical repellents and permethrin treated uniforms. Bed nets are commonly deemed too restrictive by military members and those bed nets with a mesh designed for mosquito exclusion are useless against tiny phlebotomine sand flies that vector leishmaniasis and can easily crawl through standard bed net mesh size. Backed by a recent publication (Ogoma et al., 2012) showing excellent efficacy, one potential solution with global implications would be the use of a narrow strip of natural fiber cloth, cord or tarp/blanket treated with a volatile insecticidal repellent that was able to successfully protect the user from insect bites for up to 6 months. This could be combined with insecticidal camouflage netting (Britch et al., 2011) to provide barrier treatment for protection of personnel in forward deployment locations. While the U.S. does have some commercially available spatial repellent products such as those containing allethrin (e.g. ThermaCELL), metofluthrin (e.g. OFF Clip On) and potentially transfluthrin, they have limited applications because they are not EPA registered for indoor use and require frequent (~4 hours) replacement of the toxicant/repellent strips, battery or butane cartridge used for heat. Plug in and passive devices are available globally for protection against biting insects, but none are currently registered for use in the United States and therefore available to the military. Additionally, there is little independent efficacy data to show that the globally available spatial repellent devices work to protect humans from biting insects. Therefore, the military needs a commercially available, EPA registered spatial repellent that works to prevent insect bites from potential pathogen carrying vectors for several months. The DoD Armed Forces Pest Management Board (AFPMB) has identified the need for additional and improved spatial and area repellents as a key strategy in the prevention of vector-borne disease transmission to deployed U.S. forces and listed this requirement as one of its top twenty research priorities for military entomology (AFPMB 2011). New spatial repellent barriers will provide deployed military ground forces a valuable additional tool to control insects that impact military operations. A cost effective, disposable, narrow treated cloth, cord, tarp or matt that prevents insect bites, yet does not obscure vision for incoming threats or add significant weight or volume to a deployed military members field kit will fill a major gap in the military"s ability to stop or prevent nuisance biting or disease vectors during military operations. PHASE I: This phase of the SBIR should focus on lab development of a safe, effective barrier cloth, cord, mat, or camouflage netting containing spatial repellents/toxicants that protects a sleeping or stationary individual user from biting insects such as mosquitoes or phlebotomine sand flies. Item must have the potential for EPA registration, have a shelf life of several years and provide protection for a minimum of 3 weeks under typical military situations. PHASE II: During the Phase II portion of this SBIR, the awardee should develop the prototype spatial repellent/toxicant barrier formulation for semi field and field testing against biting insects such as mosquitoes and sand flies. To the maximum extent possible, product must be entered into EPA registration process. PHASE III: The proposed SBIR has commercial applications outside of the military. This sort of novel vector control device could be used in global public health to protect vulnerable individuals from biting insects and the pathogens the carry. At the completion of a successful Phase II, the company should either develop it"s own manufacturing operation or seek funding from either a private company for product commercialization. Product could also seek additional funding through advanced development funding. The product resulting from this SBIR should be considered for NSN assignment so that it may be readily purchased by military and other US governmental organizations. In addition, the product should be considered for inclusion in a military member's deployment kit. REFERENCES: 1. Armed Forces Pest Management Board. 2011. Department of Defense Research Requirements for Pest Management for FYs 2011-2012, signed 24 May 2011. 2. Armed Forces Pest Management Board. 2009. Technical Guide 36 - Personal Protective Measures Against Insects and Other Arthropods of Military Significance (http://www.afpmb.org/sites/default/files/pubs/techguides/tg36.pdf). 3. Achee, N.L., M.R. Sardelis, I. Dusfour, K.R. Chauhan, and J.P. Grieco, 2009. Characterization of spatial repellent, contact irritant, and toxicant chemical actions of standard vector control compounds. J. Am. Mosq. Contr. Assoc. 25: 156-167 4. Argueta, T.B.O., H. Kawada, and M. Takagi. 2004b. Spatial repellency of metofluthrin-impregnated multilayer paper strip against Aedes albopictus under outdoor conditions, Nagasaki, Japan. Med. Entomol. Zool. 55: 211-216. 5. Britch S.C., K.J. Linthicum, W.W. Wynn, R.L. et al., 2011. Longevity and efficacy of bifenthrin treatment on desert-pattern US military camouflage netting against mosquitoes in a hot-arid environment. J. Am. Mosq. Control Assoc., 27: 272-279. 6. Burkett D., S.E. Cope, D.A. Strickman, G.B. White, 2011. The Deployed War-Fighter Protection Program: New Public Health Pesticides, Application Technology, and Repellent Systems, in W.J. Sames, D.E. Bowles, R.G. Robbins, S.E. Cope, eds: DoD Entomology: Global, Diverse, and Improving Public Health. Proceedings of the DoD Symposium at the 54th Annual Meeting of the Entomological Society of America, 12-16 December 2010, San Diego, CA. Armed Forces Pest Management Board, pp. 11-30. 7. Kawada H, Maekawa Y, Tsuda S, Takagi M., 2004. Trial of spatial repellency of metofluthrin-impregnated paper strips in shelters without walls in Lombok Island in Indonesia. J Am Mosq Control Assoc. 20:434-437. 8. Kawada H, Maekawa Y, Takagi M., 2005. Field trial on the spatial repellency of metofluthrin-impregnated plastic strips for mosquitoes in shelters without walls (beruga) in Lombok, Indonesia. J Vec Ecol. 30:181-185. 9. Kawada H, Maekawa Y, Tsuda Y, Takagi M. 2004. Laboratory and field evaluation of spatial repellency with metofluthrin-impregnated paper strip against mosquitoes in Lombok Island, Indonesia. J Am Mosq Control Assoc. 20:292-298. 10. Ogoma SB, H Ngonyani, ET Simfukwe, A Mseka, J Moore, and GF Killeen. 2012. Spatial repellency of transfluthrin-treated hessian strips against laboratory-reared Anopheles arabiensis mosquitoes in a semi-field tunnel cage. Parasites & Vectors 2012, 5:54. 11. Orshan L & Zollner G, 2011. Evaluation of a metofluthrin fan vaporizer device against phlebotomine sand flies (Diptera: Psychodidae) in a cutaneous leishmaniasis focus in the Judean Desert, Israel. J. Vector Ecology, 36, S157-S165. 12. Pates HV, Line JD, Keto AJ, Miller JE: 2002. Personal protection against mosquitoes in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, by using a kerosene oil lamp to vaporize transfluthrin. Med Vet Entomol. 16:277-284.
