The ESD supports DoD Public Health through the development of entomological programs and tools focused on risk assessment, monitoring, analysis, and mitigation efforts. Our efforts focus on maximizing readiness through the protection of Service members Civilians, and their families from the health threats posed by vector-borne disease and medically important pests such as stinging insects, toxic plants and venomous animals. The ESD focuses on development of standardized vector surveillance data monitoring tools, pesticide resistance monitoring, commercial off the shelf testing of surveillance equipment, pesticide use monitoring, specialized training needs, and the development of knowledge products.
The ESD is a multidisciplinary division that provides entomological services and products to support DoD policy and requirements. The ESD is internally organized to maximize our support in these areas and is comprised of two branches as shown below.
Pesticide Use and Resistance Monitoring (PURM) Branch: Pesticides, when used according to label directions as part of an integrated pest management program, can be an important tool to managing pests on DoD property. Overuse of pesticides may cause insects to develop resistance which genetically or environmentally changes how insects respond when pesticides are applied. As military personnel travel to various locations for deployments, humanitarian efforts, or permanent change of stations, Service members and their families are potentially at risk of vector-borne disease exposure. Understanding the susceptibility of medically important pests to specific pesticides used by military personnel can be important to improving control efforts and achieving vector suppression. Branch services include:
- Pesticide Resistance Testing: Perform resistance testing of insects against selected pesticides using standard tests. As part our pesticide resistance testing program we maintain susceptible colonies of mosquitoes (Aedes aegypti, Aedes albopictus, and Culex quinquefasciatus), German cockroaches (Blattella germanica), and bed bugs (Cimex lectularius) to compare against wild caught populations for pesticide resistance. Test methods include the CDC Bottle Bioassay test, Metabolic detoxification enzyme test, Molecular PCR knock down resistance test and Topical Application Bioassay.
- DoD Pesticide Hotline: Provide integrated pest management recommendations on pest issues and help on the selection of alternative pesticide products. Provide help with answering requests for information about historical pesticide applications. Provide identification services to ensure timely/accurate identification of a particular plant/animal specimen from images/physical specimens submitted.
- Deployment Pesticide Application Data Archiving: Receive pesticide application data generated during deployments from all the Services and format for upload into the DHA CarePoint Contingency Pesticide Dashboard and the Defense Occupational and Environmental Health Readiness System (DOEHRS) for permanent archiving.
Program Development, Education, and Data (PDED) Branch: The PDED supports health readiness and deployment health missions for Service members and communities by providing consultative services and up-to-date informational and educational products on emerging entomological and zoological public health threats. The PDED functions as the ESD integration and data informatics center, taking data generated from the PURM Branch and integrating with DoD surveillance and pest management data to provide analytics in support of Division and DHA Public Health needs. Branch products and services include:
- Educational and Informational Material: We create web pages, fact sheets, and other products on emerging vector-borne disease risks, disease prevention strategies, and hazardous/toxic plants and animals found on installations and in field operating environments.
- Entomological and Zoonotic Risk Assessments: We consolidate the many open source and DoD-generated risk assessment products into one location to help public health and military medical planners conduct pre-deployment planning and accurately assess vector-borne diseases, hazardous plants, and venomous animal risks during deployments and contingency operations.
- Stored-Product Pests Services: We offer DoD-wide stored-product pest identification services, pest management guidance, and hands-on training for public health and food inspection personnel. We maintain live colonies of 17 species of common food-infesting beetles and moths and use these live insects to enhance training and create reference kits for pest management professionals.
- Data Integration and Management: We develop standardized data platforms that integrate and archive pest management and vector surveillance data with laboratory identification and pathogen testing activities.
