MANAGMENT OF ARTHROPOD-BORNE DISEASES BY VECTOR CONTROL

Authors: WEIDHAAS, DONALD - USDA RETIRED; Focks, Dana

Submitted to: Book Chapter
Publication Type: Book / Chapter
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/1/1996
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: A new college-level textbook, "Textbook of Medical Entomology" is scheduled for release at the end of 1996. General topics in the book include the biology and identification of medically-important arthropods, mechanisms of disease transmission, insect-borne disease ecology, epidemiology, and the ability to predict and prevent insect-borne diseases such as malaria and filariasis. The final chapter of the book, Management of Arthropod-borne Diseases by Vector Control, begins with an overview of the history of the development of control strategies of medically-important insects dating back to the very early years of medical entomology when mosquitoes were first discovered to spread yellow fever among humans. The first major section of the chapter covers methods of insect control such as making the environmental unsuitable for insect breeding, insecticides, biological control such as fish to eat larvae, and genetic techniques. A second section provides specific recommendations for the control of several diseases. The final section shows how computer models have helped direct and optimize vector-control operations.

Technical Abstract: A new college-level textbook from Chapman and Hall entitled Textbook of Medical Entomology is scheduled for release at the end of 1996. The text of 14 chapters was edited by 2 world-renowned medical entomologists, Dr. John D. Edman of the University of Massachusetts and Dr. Bruce F. Eldridge of the University of California. General topics include the biology and identification of medically-important arthropods, mechanisms of pathogen transmission, vector-borne disease ecology, epidemiology, and the ability to predict and prevent insect-borne diseases such as malaria and filariasis. The final chapter of the book, Management of Arthropod-borne Diseases by Vector Control, begins with an overview of the history of the development of vector control strategies dating back to the very early years of medical entomology when Aedes aegypti was first discovered to transmit yellow fever. The first major section of the chapter covers methods of vector control such as environmental management, insecticides, biological control, trapping methods, insect growth regulators, and genetic techniques. A second section provides specific recommendations for the control of malaria, onchocerciasis, dengue, filariases, tick and tsetse fly-borne illnesses, leishmaniasis, and Chagas disease. The final section of the chapter demonstrates the use of computer simulation models to help direct and optimize vector-control operations.