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ENTOMOLOGY & VECTOR BORNE DISEASE
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Nairobi Entomology Team
"This will be a long war if, for every division I have facing the enemy, I must count on a second division in hospital with malaria and a third division convalescing from this debilitating disease.”
General Douglas MacArthur

Mission

Our goal is to minimize the impact of vector-borne diseases on U.S. forces through research on the biology of disease vectors and the transmission of vector-borne diseases. The department conducts field and laboratory based research on a range of militarily relevant vector-borne diseases including: malaria, leishmaniasis, arboviruses, and rickettsial diseases. These diseases pose a growing threat to populations worldwide as evident in the recent spread of West Nile virus. Increased malaria prevalence, recent cutaneous leishmaniasis infection in coalition forces in South West Asia, and concerns over potential emergence of Rift Valley fever and other vector-borne diseases warrant the need for alternative methods to control these pathogens and their vectors.

Background

The department conducts field studies in sites endemic for malaria and visceral leishmaniasis. Additionally, Kenya is endemic for various tick-borne rickettsias and multiple arboviruses including: Rift Valley fever, Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever, West Nile, yellow fever, dengue, Chikungunya, O’nyong nyong viruses. The Department is thus ideally positioned to conduct research on multiple vector-borne diseases. With laboratories and staff in both Kisumu and Nairobi, the Department is capable of conducting multiple simultaneous field studies throughout Kenya and East Africa. These field studies are complimented by vector-pathogen studies performed in a state of the art molecular biology laboratory. In addition, our sand fly and mosquito insectaries allow us to conduct detailed studies on a number of vector-pathogen systems.

The USAMRU-K Entomologists have a rich history of collaborative research. This spirit of combining resources to approach the complex interaction of vector biology, disease transmission and the environment continues today and the Department welcomes interaction with research partners.


Kisumu Entomology crew

 
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