Yudu - 2015 07 July

Mosquito-borne diseases chikungunya, dengue, and malaria

BACILLUS THURINGIENSIS ISRAELENSIS (BTI) is used to control various species of insects such as mosquitoes, fungus gnats, and blackfl ies. Bti produces toxins that can destroy the larvae of these species. These biological control agents therefore can be used to control the spread of dengue fever and the chikungunya virus.

Life Cycle of Bti Adult Adult Life Cycle of Bti crystal spore (laid on water surface) (laid on water surface) Raft of eggs

(just under water surface)

Pupa Pupa

Larva (just under water surface)

Source: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Source: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Larva (just under water surface)

Lt. Jennifer Knapp, USN, describes the vectors and incidence of the mosquito-borne chikungunya virus.

Chikungunya symptoms include fever up to 104, rash, arthritis affecting multiple joints, headache, nausea, vomiting, conjuncti- vitis, and partial loss of taste. Download the MOAA Publications app (www.moaa.org/publicationsapp) to watch Lt. Jennifer Knapp, USN, explain the disease in the July issue.

Malaria’s reach in the Eastern and Western hemispheres

“We pretty much have zero exposure risk to Ebola right now, and 100-percent exposure risk to malaria,”

—Maj. Benjamin Platt, USA

Note: in this map, countries with areas endemic for malaria are shaded completely even if transmission occurs only in a small part of the country. For more specific within-country malaria transmission information, please see the CDC Malaria Map Application (www.cdc.gov/malaria/map).

JULY 2015 MILITARY OFFICER 61

Life Cycle of a Mosquito

Raft of eggs

Bti spores that are eaten by mosquito larvae release toxins into the mosquitoes’ guts, causing the larvae to stop eating and die.

Germination active

crystal spore

Germination produces vegetative cells

spore Source: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Source: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency spore spore crystal crystal spore