Founded by a small group of vector biologists in California in 1968, the Society of Vector Ecology (SOVE) hosted more than 250 attendees to celebrate 50 years of contributions to Public Health at their annual 2018 Conference held at Fish Camp, CA in October 2018.
SOVE members now encompass a diverse group of research and operations personnel from government, academic, and industry not only in the US, but from around the world. The 2018 Conference highlighted the many challenges facing vector ecologists today including funding, insecticide resistance, communication platforms among diverse agencies, and public perception of vector disease and control.
Insecticide resistance remains an urgent, critical issue worldwide that will be solved in the long-term with new mode-of-action interventions. While the solution is reachable, it will require both time and money. Fortunately, through the efforts of SOVE and collaborative research programs, today’s Public Health specialists are developing new approaches to large-scale deployment of existing products to help manage mosquito vectors.
For example, the Florida Keys Mosquito Abatement District successfully manages the threat of Aedes spp vector populations through large-scale aerial operational use of the bacterial larvicide Bti strain AM65-52 (Pruszynski et al 2017; PLoS ONE 12(2):e0170079)*. Bticontains multiple toxins with diverse modes of action useful in managing resistance. In a similar way, combination therapy, popularized by the pharmaceutical industry, combines multiple modes of action into single drugs to manage antibiotic resistance. This approach is now a major target of industry research to determine the role of combining chemical insecticides (such as organophosphates and pyrethroids) with biorational classes of insecticides (such as juvenile hormones, benzoylureas, spinosyns and bacterial larvicides) to manage resistance. The role of botanicals as resistance management tools was also highlighted at the SOVE 2018 conference and will remain an exciting area of basic and applied research.
SOVE continues to extend its reach across the globe with counterparts in Europe (E-SOVE), Asia (ASVEMC) and India with conferences around the world. E-SOVE and ASVEMC hosted their annual shows in October of 2018 and India will hold its inaugural conference in Panagi, Goa, India in February 2019.
For more information on this organization and its global counterparts, visit www.sove.org
*Pruszynski CA, Hribar LJ, Mickle R, Leal AL (2017) A Large Scale Biorational Approach Using Bacillus thuringiensis israeliensis (Strain AM65-52) for Managing Aedes aegypti Populations to Prevent Dengue, Chikungunya and Zika Transmission. PLoS ONE 12(2): e0170079. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0170079
