Location: Mosquito and Fly Research
Project Number: 6036-32000-050-075-I
Project Type: Interagency Reimbursable Agreement
Start Date: Nov 17, 2017
End Date: Sep 30, 2019
Objective:
Determine how well permethrin-treated U.S. Army jungle uniform fabrics retain this repellent and prevent mosquito bites.
Approach:
This research will be conducted using the “bite protection” assay developed by MFRU/CMAVE to establish the level at which permethrin-treated U.S. Army uniform fabrics prevent mosquito bites. The source of fabric swatches will be from the Natick Soldier Center. The bite protection assay will be conducted on treated fabric by using human volunteers in an Institutional Review Board (IRB) - approved study protocol. Volunteers wear sewn sleeves of the uniform material to test if the coated garment prevents mosquito bites in a laboratory assay. The results will be compared to an untreated control sleeve to determine the protection level of the residual repellent on each fabric expressed as the percentage reduction in bites compared to the control. Tests are conducted with fabric that is unwashed, and then wore in a jungle environment for a specified number of days. Multiple end points (in days) will be a component of this study as will multiple fabric constructions. Studies are intended to be tested against multiple strains of mosquitoes to determine if the strain affects the outcome of the experiments. The final report is used by the United States Army to determine which type of fabric will be the best candidate to prevent bites and to what level this protection lasts for the specified wash level intervals.
