Publications by authors named "Douglas A Burkett"

We conducted a series of field experiments in 2003 and 2004 to evaluate the efficacy of a variety of insecticides and insecticide application technologies for the control of phlebotomine sand flies at Tallil Airbase, Iraq. During the experiments, 53,263 sand flies were collected. The experiments evaluated the following: (1) routine sand fly control operations using a variety of residual and area-wide insecticides; (2) a combination of five different insecticide application methods in and around tents; (3) residual application of lambda-cyhalothrin and ultra-low volume application of pyrethrins in houses; (4) carbaryl and lambda-cyhalothrin applied as barrier sprays; (5) a deltamethrin-impregnated fence; (6) lambda-cyhalothrin applied as a residual spray in concrete manholes; (7) deltamethrin-treated flooring in tents; and 8) ultra-low volume-applied malathion.

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In this study, we examined the effect of weather and moon illumination on sand fly activity, as measured by light trap collections made between 2 May 2003 and 25 October 2004 at Tallil Air Base, Iraq. Wind speed, temperature, dew point, percentage of sky cover, and moon illumination were entered into principal components analysis. The resulting principal components were entered into stepwise regression to develop a model of the impact of the weather on sand fly collections.

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House-residual spraying and insecticide-treated bed nets have achieved some success in controlling anthropophilic and endophagic vectors. However, these methods have relatively low efficacy in Korea because Anopheles sinensis, the primary malaria vector, is highly zoophilic and exophilic. So, we focused our vector control efforts within livestock enclosures using ultraviolet black light traps as a mechanical control measure.

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Soldiers from the Republic of Korea and the United States conducting peacetime military operations at various training sites and multiple range complexes located near the demilitarized zone separating North and South Korea are exposed to rodents and their potentially disease-carrying ectoparasites. These diseases include scrub typhus, murine typhus, and leptospirosis. Many of the training sites are rural or semi-rural, surrounded or co-located with various forms of agriculture, and are infested with rodents and insectivores (as well as their ectoparasites), which are commonly found in association with unmanaged tall grasses, scrub, and crawling vegetation habitats.

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Throughout Korea, small mammals are hosts to a number of disease-causing agents that pose a health threat to U.S. and Korean military forces while they conduct field-training exercises.

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We evaluated the effectiveness of commercially available light traps and sticky traps baited with chemical light sticks for the collection of phlebotomine sand flies. Evaluations were conducted at Tallil Air Base, Iraq, in 2003. In an initial study, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)-style trap with UV bulb collected significantly more sand flies than did an up-draft CDC trap, a standard down-draft CDC trap (STD-CDC), or a sticky strap with a green chemical light stick.

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CDC miniature light traps were used to evaluate the general biology of phlebotomine sand flies from April 2003 to November 2004 at Tallil Air Base, Iraq. Factors evaluated include species diversity and temporal (daily and seasonal) and geographic distribution of the sand flies. In addition, the abundance of sand flies inside and outside tents and buildings was observed.

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The vertical distribution of mosquitoes (Diptera, Culicidae) was evaluated in Paju County in northern South Korea by using Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) miniature light traps with ultraviolet light and dry ice (CO2) as attractants. CDC traps were placed at 1, 3 and 5 m above the ground near rice paddies in a relatively open agricultural ara. Traps wer hung on two scaffold towers (6 m height) spaced approximately 300 m aprt.

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One of the most significant modern day efforts to prevent and control an arthropod-borne disease during a military deployment occurred when a team of U.S. military entomologists led efforts to characterize, prevent, and control leishmaniasis at Tallil Air Base (TAB), Iraq, during Operation Iraqi Freedom.

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Field trials evaluating the effectiveness of selected gravid trap oviposition media and commercially available mosquito traps were conducted in southern Fulton County (Atlanta), GA, from June 9 to June 18 and June 24 to July 4, 2002, respectively. Total number of mosquitoes and number of each species captured during the tests were compared using a Latin square design. For the gravid trap infusion media, significant differences were found for total number of mosquitoes collected where sod > or = hay > or = hay side-by-side diluted hay > dilute hay side-by-side hay > or = oak > diluted hay.

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The effectiveness of five mosquito traps at sampling anopheline mosquitoes was compared with landing/biting (L/B) collections in western Thailand. Traps evaluated included a CDC style light trap (CDC LT) with dry ice, the American Biophysics Corporation (ABC) standard light trap (ABC LT) with dry ice and octenol, the ABC counterflow geometry (CFG) trap with dry ice and octenol, the ABC mosquito magnet (MM) trap with octenol, and the Nicosia and Reinhardt Company Mosquito Attractor Device (N&R trap). Mosquito numbers captured in landing-biting collections were 5.

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As part of an evaluation of the ecology of arthropod-borne diseases in the Republic of Korea (ROK), we examined 8,765 mosquitoes captured in Paju County, Gyonggi Province, ROK, for the presence of viruses. Mosquitoes were captured in propane lantern/human-baited Shannon traps, Mosquito Magnet traps, or American Biophysics Corporation (East Greenwich, RI) miniature light traps with or without supplemental octenol bait and/or dry ice. Mosquitoes were identified to species, placed in pools of up to 40 mosquitoes each, and tested on Vero cells for the presence of virus.

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Field trials evaluating selected commercially available mosquito traps variously baited with light, carbon dioxide, and/or octenol were conducted from 18-27 September 2000 in a malarious area near Paekyeon-ri (Tongil-Chon) and Camp Greaves in Paju County, Kyonggi Province, Republic of Korea. The host-seeking activity for common mosquito species, including the primary vector of Japanese encephalitis, Culex tritaeniorhynchus Giles, was determined using hourly aspirator collections from a human and propane lantern-baited Shannon trap during hours when temperatures exceeded 15 degrees C. The total number of mosquitoes and number of each species captured during the test was compared using a block design.

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As part of an on-going malaria surveillance effort conducted by the U.S. Forces Korea, Republic of Korea (ROK), a total of 28,286 anopheline mosquitoes was tested for the presence of Plasmodium vivax circumsporozoite (CS) protein.

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