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Courtesy story, Navy and Marine Corps Public Health Center Located deep in the tropics approximately 55 miles from the eastern tip of Cuba, United States Coast Guard (USCG) Base Great Inagua is a nine-acre forward operating base renowned for search and rescue operations. The personnel of this small but vital facility serve as heroes to many in their various capacities from search and rescue operations to the war on drugs. They also wage an endless battle against a common but often overlooked adversary: the black salt marsh mosquito. Known to the scientific community worldwide as Aedes taeniorhynchus, this particular mosquito species is infamous for its aggressive biting behavior and ability to travel distances of up to 32 miles, which is enough to cover a majority of the small island. The mosquito is also a known vector of diseases including equine encephalitis and West Nile Virus, posing a continuous threat to anyone living or working nearby. Surrounded by mangroves and marshlands, USCG Base Great Inagua is an area prime for black salt marsh mosquito proliferation and the need for pest management training is critical in mission readiness. “Different mosquitoes have different habitats and proper surveillance and identification give the operator the information needed to control them,” says Hospital Corpsman 1st Class Adrian Weldon, who is a Navy preventive medicine technician assigned to Navy Entomology Center of Excellence (NECE). In August 2021 at USCG Air Station Clearwater, Florida Navy Entomologists and preventive medicine technicians from NECE trained Coast Guard personnel on specific instructive and operational training designed for dealing with this mosquito adversary. Navy Entomologist Lt. j.g. Sean McKay and Weldon conducted training over three days, during which topics of instruction included mosquito biology and identification, surveillance techniques, and protective measures. These can often vary depending on the mosquito species and adapting to the black salt marsh mosquito ecology is paramount in successful control. The course instructed on how the unit can properly treat and wear uniforms to repel mosquitoes by using an Individual Dynamic Absorption (IDA) kit and topical repellents. This brings mosquito management to the individual service member and helps the mosquito management operator in control of the species. "The specialized mosquito management training provided by the Navy Entomology Center of Excellence helped develop new skills to combat the intrusive mosquito population at our facility on Great Inagua,” says Marine Science Technician 1st Class James Nichols, who is an Assistant Safety Manager assigned to USCG Air Station, Clearwater. “Through this partnership we are able to offer our flight crews a safe environment while deployed ensuring the search and rescue and law enforcement missions continue within the Caribbean." Proper techniques, safety precautions, and insecticide use were taught both in the classroom and in the field. Each student prepared insecticide calculations, practiced effective application of safety equipment, and received hands-on training with one of the most effective weapons in the pest management specialist’s arsenal, the thermal fogger. The thermal fogger is used to treat areas that may be hard to reach by hand and, therefore, may provide potential harbors for pests deep in dense vegetation or underneath crawl spaces. This exercise gives each operator the experience to replicate the job in Great Inagua. In addition to insecticide application, students developed the skill of identifying mosquitoes to understand how to manage the species specific to the area. “The goal is to encourage an integrated mosquito management approach,” says McKay. “This includes education of personnel, nonchemical measures such as removing mosquito habitats, personal protective measures by using the DoD repellent system, and insecticide use for adult and immatures.” Fighting the mosquito is a continual battle to ensure the force health protection of Coast Guardsmen abroad. The relationship between USCG and NECE is poised to grow along with management of mosquitoes throughout the Caribbean. Additionally, as the area can serve as a gateway to various medically important insects from other nearby into the continental United States, this makes mosquito management in the region even more imperative for the protection of our operational forces. Ultimately, the most valuable component of this training is to foster collaboration and build on current efforts in what can often be viewed as a biological arms race against medically important arthropods, as pesticides can place extreme selectional pressure on mosquito populations and the importance of integrated pest management cannot be emphasized enough as military pest control efforts move into the future. The Navy and Marine Corps Public Health Center (NMCPHC) develops and shapes public health for the U.S. Navy and Marines Corps through health surveillance, epidemiology and analysis, disease and injury prevention, and public health consultation. Learn more by going to www.nmcphc.med.navy.mil. Follow NMCPHC on social media at https://www.facebook.com/NavyAndMarineCorpsPublicHealthCenter http://twitter.com/nmcphc and https://www.instagram.com/nmcphc/

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