ARS | Publication request: REPELLENCY OF PERMETHRIN TREATED BATTLE DRESS UNIFORMS DURING OPERATION TANDEM THRUST 2001

Submitted to: American Mosquito Control Association
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: July 26, 2004
Publication Date: December 1, 2004
Citation: Miller, R., Wing, J., Cope, S.E., Klavons, J.A., Kline, D.L. 2004. Repellency of permethrin treated battle dress uniforms during operation tandem thrust 2001. Journal of the American Mosquito Control Association. 20(4):462-464.

Interpretive Summary: Military personnel are protected from vector-borne disease with a combination of chemical treatment of battle dress uniforms (BDUs) and application of topical mosquito repellent. However, in 1997, personnel deployed to the Shoalwater Bay Training Area in Queensland Australia for exercise Tandem Thrust observed successful mosquito feeding through chemically treated BDUs. This observation was a source of concern, because the mosquitoes in this area carry several diseases to which U.S. military personnel are susceptible. We designed a study during, exercise Tandem Thrust 2001, to determine if mosquitoes in the Shoalwater Bay training area were repelled by chemically treated uniforms. We found that the mosquitoes were repelled by the chemical treatment. We concluded that the feeding in Tandem Thrust 97 must have been through improperly treated BDU or by a different species of mosquito that was not present in 2001.

Technical Abstract: Previously, during Operation Tandem Thrust 1997 (TT97), successful feeding by mosquitoes though permethrin treated battle dress uniforms (BDUs) was observed in the Shoalwater Bay Training Area, Queensland Australia. Therefore, during Operation Tandem Thrust 2001 (TT01), the repellency of permethrin treatment of BDUs was evaluated. Washing permethrin treated BDUs 1 time reduced the permethrin concentration 60%, but permethrin concentration was not reduced further after subsequent washings (up to 20 times). The probing time of mosquitoes exposed to permethrin treated BDUs was reduced to the greatest extent on the treated-unwashed uniform (7.5 fold reduction). However, permethrin treated and washed uniforms also reduced probing time (2.5 times) compared to the untreated control uniform containing no permethrin. This study demonstrated the value of permethrin treatment of BDUs to reduce the probing time of mosquitoes. Reduced probing time should decrease the feeding success of SWBTA mosquitoes and help to protect operational forces from bothersome mosquito bites and the associated risk of mosquito-borne disease in the Shoal Water Bay Training Area, Queensland Australia. The observations of successful mosquito feeding, made during TT97, could be attributed to seasonal differences in species composition or improper treatment of BDUs.