West Nile virus surveillance in East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana.

West Nile virus (WNV) was detected for the first time in Louisiana in the fall of 2001. Surveillance data collected from East Baton Rouge Parish in 2002 were examined to establish baseline data on WNV activity, to support the current design of disease surveillance programs, and to target vector control efforts in the parish. The first indications of WNV activity were from a dead Northern Cardinal collected in February and from a live male cardinal sampled on 14 March.

Field evaluation of mosquito control devices in southern Louisiana.

The effect of 2 mosquito traps and 2 repellent systems on the catch of adult mosquitoes in American Biophysics Corporation (ABC) light traps was evaluated over a 14-month period at 3 locations in Louisiana. Devices evaluated included 1) ABC Mosquito Magnet with dry ice and octanol; 2) the BioSensory 500 cc Dragonfly Biting Insect Trap with CO2, octenol, and Mosquito Cognito, which uses Conceal inhibitor; 3) the SC Johnson OFF! Mosquito Lantern; and 4) the ThermaCell cordless mosquito repellent system. The number of adult mosquitoes caught in the ABC light traps, at the SC Johnson OFF! Mosquito Lantern, and ThermaCell cordless mosquito repellent treatment sites was significantly lower than the number collected at the ABC Mosquito Magnet or the Dragonfly/Mosquito Cognito trap system sites.

Evaluation of candidate traps as tools for conducting surveillance for Anopheles mosquitoes in a malaria-endemic area in western Thailand.

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.

Field evaluation of an area repellent system (Thermacell) against Phlebotomus papatasi (Diptera: Psychodidae) and Ochlerotatus caspius (Diptera: Culicidae) in Sanliurfa Province, Turkey.

A field evaluation of a new area repellent system, Thermacell Mosquito Repellent (TMR, cis-trans allethrin), was conducted against phlebotomine sand flies and mosquitoes in Cunpolat village, Sanliurfa Province, in southeastern Anatolia, Turkey, an area historically endemic for cutaneous leishmaniasis and high sand fly populations. The objective of this study was to determine the efficacy, duration of protection, and spatial characteristics of protection (downwind distance from point of release), of the TMR. Twelve adult volunteers (nine in the treatment and three controls) made collections from ankle to knee for 25 min every hour from 2100 to 0300 on six consecutive nights in August 2002.

Field evaluation of a lethal ovitrap for the control of Aedes aegypti (Diptera: Culicidae) in Thailand.

In 1999 and 2000 we evaluated a lethal ovitrap (LO) for the control of Aedes aegypti (L.) in three villages in Ratchaburi Province, Thailand. Two blocks of 50 houses (a minimum of 250 m apart) served as treatment and control sites in each village, with each house in the treatment area receiving 10 LOs.

Field and laboratory evaluations of potential oviposition attractants for Aedes albopictus (Diptera: Culicidae).

We tested five volatile synthetic chemicals (dimethyl disulfide, indole, 4-methylphenol, 3-methylindole, and trimethylamine) as potential oviposition attractants of Aedes albopictus in field and laboratory experiments. The 5 synthetic compounds were loaded into controlled-release packets, which consisted of a cellulose material sealed within a permeable plastic membrane, that were used to bait water-filled ovitraps at 5 field sites. Aedes albopictus exhibited no oviposition preference for any of the baited traps versus adjacent traps containing only water.