Powerful constraints demand skillful management. That usually means less about new tools and more about new ways to use existing ones.
Resources come in many forms. In the case of vector control, they can take the shape of anything from dippers to diagnostic tests. They can involve new insect control technologies as well as the equipment that loads, mixes, and disperses pesticides. And of course, none of these resources would have any value without the most important resource of all – people.
Ultimately, resourcing comes down to money, and where govenment funding is concerned, everyone champions their own cause. Competition for funding is fierce, and by the time you get down to the local level, funding is already in a state of attrition.
Having limited resources doesn’t make goals disappear, it only makes them harder to achieve. So for mosquito abatement districts charged with protecting public health, there’s no choice but to find a way. Thankfully, numerous innovations have been made in mosquito control in the past ten years and progress is still ongoing. It’s a good time to take a step back and consider all of the innovations that are helping to manage vectors going forward.
Innovation through Collaboration
The American Mosquito Control Association (AMCA) represents domestic mosquito control officials. But what about other stakeholder groups for whom mosquito control is critical? In the wake of the Zika outbreak, AMCA has taken the opportunity to connect directly with other stakeholder groups in the US who share some aspect of Public Health responsibilities, stakeholders such as state and local health departments, the Entomological Society of America, the National Public Health Society, and many others.
While collaboration does get more complicated and competition more fierce in the international arena, opportunities to join forces are still there. Dr. Tracey McNamara, West Nile discoverer and Professor of Veterinary Medicine turned evangelist for the importance of animal surveillance in vector control, is making new connections at the highest international level both with the World Health Organization and the Global Health Security Organization (GHSA). Referencing the growing list of zoonotic diseases affecting humans in the recent past, Tracey continues lobbying for increased funding and focus on domestic and wild animals that could warn us in the event of a disease threat.
Product Innovations
In a global vector control climate where insecticide resistance dominates the conversation, new interventions for mosquito control take years to develop. One good example is a combination of innovations made by Valent BioSciences involving existing technologies, innovations that allow operations personnel to change the way vectors are targeted. One comes in a product technology innovation form (see sidebar), the other in how the product is applied.
As adulticide interventions continue to face challenges, genetics may offer solutions as well.
Genetically modified mosquitos have been under development for approximately 10 years, but the technology experienced a setback in September 2019 when Science reported some offspring of the GM mosquitos being trialed survived and in turn, produced offspring that also made it to sexual maturity. The results are under further investigation.
Similarly, CRISPR technology has garnered a lot of interest as a possible intervention, perhaps as a way to even eradicate malaria once and for all. However, CRISPR remains highly controversial and is still years away from offering commercially available interventions.
Application Innovations
One of the most notable innovations in the past decade has been the WALS™ application strategy. Developed in partnership between pubilc health professionals and Valent BioSciences, WALS is a biorational application strategy for controlling disease vectors in difficult to find or access habitats.
Product efficacy is non-negotiable, but oftentimes the biggest hurdle is getting the active ingredient to the target. Container mosquito species can vector diseases such as Zika virus, West Nile virus, dengue fever, yellow fever, and chikungunya virus. Larvae of these vector populations often inhabit numerous small + cryptic habitats that can be hard to find or access.
Landmark Innovation Celebrates 10 Years
When VectoMax® biological larvicide (Bacillus thuringiensis spp. israelensis (Bti) Strain AM65-52 plus Bacillus sphaericus Strain ABTS-1743 (Bs) was introduced in the US in 2009, it was hailed as a revolutionary bioinsecticide that would provide much-needed benefits for mosquito control. What many users don’t realize is that it took ten years to develop the underlying BioFuse™ technology that makes VectoMax possible.
Mosquito control is a complex undertaking given the variety of different target species and corresponding differences in their ecology. Add asynchronous broods, and all of the potential habitats for these insects, and you have a potential for operational inefficiency.
In the 1990s and into the 2000s, two prevailing challenges undermined the growing biorational larvicide segment, particularly (Bti) and (Bs). While vectors in clean water were well controlled with Bti, the technology did not perform as well in polluted waters and had a much shorter residual than Bs.
By 2000, VBC had begun work investigating how the two actives might be combined. The result was BioFuse™, VBC’s patented manufacturing and formulation technology that joins the two active ingredients at the micron level. Every microparticle of VectoMax includes both Bti and Bs, a landmark innovation recently cited as the top performing bacterial larvicide among products reviewed by a LSM academic review contingent.
Product Innovations
In a global vector control climate where insecticide resistance dominates the conversation, new interventions for mosquito control take years to develop. One good example is a combination of innovations made by Valent BioSciences involving existing technologies, innovations that allow operations personnel to change the way vectors are targeted. One comes in a product technology innovation form (see sidebar), the other in how the product is applied.
As adulticide interventions continue to face challenges, genetics may offer solutions as well.
Genetically modified mosquitos have been under development for approximately 10 years, but the technology experienced a setback in September 2019 when Science reported some offspring of the GM mosquitos being trialed survived and in turn, produced offspring that also made it to sexual maturity. The results are under further investigation.
Similarly, CRISPR technology has garnered a lot of interest as a possible intervention, perhaps as a way to even eradicate malaria once and for all. However, CRISPR remains highly controversial and is still years away from offering commercially available interventions.
Application Innovations
One of the most notable innovations in the past decade has been the WALS™ application strategy. Developed in partnership between pubilc health professionals and Valent BioSciences, WALS is a biorational application strategy for controlling disease vectors in difficult to find or access habitats.
Product efficacy is non-negotiable, but oftentimes the biggest hurdle is getting the active ingredient to the target. Container mosquito species can vector diseases such as Zika virus, West Nile virus, dengue fever, yellow fever, and chikungunya virus. Larvae of these vector populations often inhabit numerous small + cryptic habitats that can be hard to find or access.
Quantifying Benefits
How much can UAVs impact efficiency? Reynolds says the impact compared to conventional methods can be dramatic.
“What makes UAVs such a great candidate is that for backpacks and ATVs – all of those measure productivity in terms of the number of the acres treated. With an ATV or an Argo unit, you might treat 5 to 8 acres an hour. With our UAV, we’re doing about three acres a minute.”
Accessibility is another major factor. Whether applicators are in a terrestrial vehicle or on foot with a backpack, there are any number of areas that are nearly or completely inaccessible. The UAV does not have that same challenge, as it can easily fly over every square foot of the intended treatment block.
From a safety perspective, there are any number of hidden dangers lurking for unwary applicators.
“Any time you’re going around with a backpack or even an ATV, there’s always the possibility of getting the vehicle stuck, sprained ankles, that sort of thing. So if you have an area that presents a significant challenge for humans to access, the UAV is a great option.”
While adoption was steady in the early years, the floodgates opened in September of 2018 when the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued regulations for UAVs that freed applicators to utilize UAVs 55 pounds and under.
“The under 55 lb. authorization paved the way for public agencies to apply for a certificate of authorization. That was what opened the door. So much of our business was coming from the Southeast and then of course the western states, but after September 2018, people all over really started trusting the technology to do what it was promising.”
It didn’t hurt that the cost of the technology has dropped dramatically since the earliest models. Reynolds says the first few units they outfitted were in the $100,000 range. Now they’re down to $32,000 – $40,000 fully integrated. For Reynolds, it also doesn’t hurt that he started his career in mosquito control and understands very well what’s needed.
“There’s a lot of folks out there that can make unmanned aircraft, but for this specific use you have to have the knowledge and expertise about delivery systems and droplet spectrums and drift optimization and risk minimization – all those things. There’s a clear division of capabilities with unmanned aircraft and I think that’s where our expertise is pretty rare.”
Reynolds remembers the moment he knew just how bright the future was for the marriage between UAVs and mosquito control.
“We were doing a lot of work in California, particularly in the districts for Merced, Coachella, and Sacramento Counties. Allan Edmonds was the entomologist in Merced at that time (he’s since retired), and I remember him watching wide-eye and saying “I am watching history unfold.”
Royals Awarded by FMCA
In November 2019, Candace Royals, Senior Technical Sales Specialist with Valent BioSciences was honored by the Florida Mosquito Control Association (FMCA) and the FMCA Board of Directors with the 2019 Stutz Award. The Fred Stutz Memorial Award “recognizes an outstanding contribution to mosquito control by development of procedures that increase effectiveness in mosquito or other arthropod control, or the design and manufacture of equipment that helped revolutionize the control of mosquitoes and/or other arthropods of public health importance.”
Candace received her award at FMCA’s 91st Annual Meeting and was nominated by Andrea Leal, Director of the Florida Keys Mosquito Control District for her work developing the WALS™ application platform in Florida. Here is an excert from Leal’s nomination.
“I am nominating Candace Royals, Senior Technical Sales Specialist with Valent BioSciences, for the Fred Stutz Memorial Award. She started with Abbott Labs, which eventually became Valent BioSciences, in 1997. Her work on the development and operational use of VectoBac WDG state-wide has assisted many in the control of Aedes aegypti, especially during mosquito-borne disease outbreaks.
Candace first began this work in 2009, when the Florida Keys Mosquito Control District was confronting a dengue outbreak. When approached by then Director Ed Fussell, Candace and her team were currently using VectoBac WDG in ground applications overseas. Because Aedes aegypti control is so labor-intensive, Candace and her team were asked what could be done for wide-area applications of Bti. VectoBac WDG was the answer, even though it had not previously been applied aerially. Candace was instrumental in all initial trials, bringing in equipment, equipment set-up, and field larval assays. This involved many early mornings and late nights setting up sites and counting dead larvae. Her dedication to this product and application have gone above and beyond. VectoBac® WDG went operational in the summer of 2010 in the Florida Keys, where it is now in regular use annually.
Fast forward a few years, and enter Zika, which has been a game-changer for mosquito control throughout all of Florida. This brought Aedes aegypti control to the fore-front of all of our minds in mosquito control. Again, Candace and her team answered the call for assistance. She assisted many organizations throughout the state interested in Aedes aegypti control, whether by ground or by air. Candace worked tirelessly to make sure that any and all interested parties had the correct application equipment and procedures to utilize VectoBac WDG for Aedes aegypti control. Due to her diligence and persistence throughout the last 9 years, The use of VectoBac WDG and the application procedures have been adopted throughout the State of Florida as part of many agencies’ standard operating procedures. Please join me in congratulating Candace on receiving this prestigious and well-deserved award!”