Sand fly surveillance and control on Camp Ramadi, Iraq, as part of a leishmaniasis control program

Abstract

Abstract : Vector-borne diseases are a serious health threat to U.S. troops stationed around the world. U.S. forces deployed to Iraq following the 2003 invasion experienced serious risk of infection by several vector-borne pathogens, specifically cutaneous (CL) and visceral leishmaniasis (VL) (Aliaga and Aronson 2007). Camp Ramadi, a U.S. military Forward Operating Base, was established in 2003 at the Al Anbar provincial capital of Ramadi, approximately 110 km west of Baghdad. In Iraq the total number of cases of CL reported per year from 2004 to 2008 was 1,655 and for VL was 1,711 (Alvar et al. 2012). In Al Anbar province in 2008, the estimated incidence of CL and VL was 1 per 10,000 (Alvar et al. 2012). Because of the war, the number of cases of both CL and VL was most likely underreported in Al Anbar and all provinces of Iraq (Alvar et al. 2012). Because of the risk of vector-borne diseases, each large U.S. military facility, such as Camp Ramadi, had a vector control program operating throughout the year. As part of a base-wide vector control program, unbaited Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) light traps were placed at three locations on Camp Ramadi between April and August, 2009 to gather baseline population estimates of adult sand flies and monitor the success of subsequent control measures. This paper reports sand fly collections over the five-month period, whether they were positive for Leishmania, and describes efforts to control sand fly populations using ultra-low volume (ULV) insecticide applications. Three sites on Camp Ramadi were established for trap placement in areas where U.S. troops worked and lived. Site one was in a grove of palm trees near troop living quarters and the base medical clinic. Site two was in a plot of scrub vegetation near the helicopter landing pad, and site three in tall vegetation near buildings occupied by the base Commander. All three sites had active rodent burrows.