BANFIELDBIO INC — Department of Health and Human Services SBIR Phase II: NIAID

Description

DESCRIPTIONprovided by applicantLethal ovitraps are a modification of a common mosquito population monitoring technologyadult females are enticed to a water container to lay their eggs and are exposed to a lethal dose of pesticideThe Autocidal Gravid OvitrapAGOimproves this technology in several waysIt has been modified to make it more attractive to gravid Aedes aegyptiThe killing agent is an adhesivethus extending the useful field life while negating the need for insecticidesThis project aims to modify the current AGO design to make it suitable for mass productionThe goal is to produce an efficaciouscost effectiveand durable AGOLong term objectives include optimizing use of the AGO for control of arbovirus vectoring mosquitoes to prevent outbreaks of dengue and other diseasesand extending the technology for use with other container breeding species of mosquitoesThe final result is expected to be a commercially viable product for professional and home usePhase I efforts culminated in a prototype injection mold for the AGOwith individual elements of the design validated both digitally and in competitive cage bioassaysMultiple synthetic attractants were evaluatedwith several performing at least as well as the standard hay infusionThe Phase I AGO is suitable for mass productioncost effectiveuser friendlyand has high attraction to AeaegyptiPhase II will result in a product that can be mass manufactured with demonstrated efficacy against containerbreeding mosquitoesThe injection molded AGO will be evaluated in large room and field tests for effectiveness and durabilityThe attractant formulation will be refined in arena ad field tests to be at least as attractive as hay infusionand easily packaged and shippedLarge scale urban field testing will be expanded to test the AGOandapos s efficacy in suppressing both Aeaegypti and AealbopictusA CDC developed diagnostic andquot quick testandquotwill be used to determine disease frequency in trapped mosquitoesto assess if large scale deployment of the AGO reduces the mosquito population below the dengue transmission thresholdContainer breeding mosquitoes such as Aeaegypti and Aealbopictus are day biting nuisance mosquitoesThey are also vectors of serious viral diseasesincluding dengue feveryellow feverand chikungunyaCurrently andgtbillion people in tropical countries are at risk of infection with dengue feverThe mission of the CDC NCEZID is to detectpreventand control zoonotic infectious diseasesDengue fever and chikungunya are not currently major threats to US residentsbut these diseases are spreading as their mosquito vectors expand their rangesThe AGO will be both a monitoring tool to check the spread of these increasingly invasive speciesand an effective control option for use in outbreaks by creating area wide suppression of mosquito populationsIt promises to be an important tool in the long term battle to control nuisance mosquitoesimprove quality of life for people in affected areasand prevent vector borne diseases PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCEThe proposed research will result in a trap for container breeding mosquitoesvectors of dengue fever and other widespread tropical diseaseswhich is simple to useaffordableand optimized for both mosquito attraction and end user acceptanceIt will be suitable for monitoring mosquito populationsallowing public mosquito control agencies to quickly respond to population increases of these mosquitoesThe lack of chemical pesticides in the trap will also mean that it can be used in environmentally fragile ecosystemscountries with strict regulations on pesticidesand anywhere that pesticide resistance is or may become a problem