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Review
. 2011 Mar 4;11 Suppl 2(Suppl 2):S9.
doi: 10.1186/1471-2458-11-S2-S9.

Malaria and other vector-borne infection surveillance in the U.S. Department of Defense Armed Forces Health Surveillance Center-Global Emerging Infections Surveillance program: review of 2009 accomplishments

Mark M Fukuda  1 , Terry A Klein, Tadeusz Kochel, Talia M Quandelacy, Bryan L Smith, Jeff Villinski, Delia Bethell, Stuart Tyner, Youry Se, Chanthap Lon, David Saunders, Jacob Johnson, Eric Wagar, Douglas Walsh, Matthew Kasper, Jose L Sanchez, Clara J Witt, Qin Cheng, Norman Waters, Sanjaya K Shrestha, Julie A Pavlin, Andres G Lescano, Paul C F Graf, Jason H Richardson, Salomon Durand, William O Rogers, David L Blazes, Kevin L Russell; AFHSC-GEIS Malaria and Vector Borne Infections Writing Group; Hoseah Akala, Joel C Gaydos, Robert F DeFraites, Panita Gosi, Ans Timmermans, Chad Yasuda, Gary Brice, Fred Eyase, Karl Kronmann, Peter Sebeny, Robert Gibbons, Richard Jarman, John Waitumbi, David Schnabel, Allen Richards, Dennis Shanks
Affiliations
Review

Malaria and other vector-borne infection surveillance in the U.S. Department of Defense Armed Forces Health Surveillance Center-Global Emerging Infections Surveillance program: review of 2009 accomplishments

Mark M Fukuda et al. BMC Public Health. .

Abstract

Vector-borne infections (VBI) are defined as infectious diseases transmitted by the bite or mechanical transfer of arthropod vectors. They constitute a significant proportion of the global infectious disease burden. United States (U.S.) Department of Defense (DoD) personnel are especially vulnerable to VBIs due to occupational contact with arthropod vectors, immunological naiveté to previously unencountered pathogens, and limited diagnostic and treatment options available in the austere and unstable environments sometimes associated with military operations. In addition to the risk uniquely encountered by military populations, other factors have driven the worldwide emergence of VBIs. Unprecedented levels of global travel, tourism and trade, and blurred lines of demarcation between zoonotic VBI reservoirs and human populations increase vector exposure. Urban growth in previously undeveloped regions and perturbations in global weather patterns also contribute to the rise of VBIs. The Armed Forces Health Surveillance Center-Global Emerging Infections Surveillance and Response System (AFHSC-GEIS) and its partners at DoD overseas laboratories form a network to better characterize the nature, emergence and growth of VBIs globally. In 2009 the network tested 19,730 specimens from 25 sites for Plasmodium species and malaria drug resistance phenotypes and nearly another 10,000 samples to determine the etiologies of non-Plasmodium species VBIs from regions spanning from Oceania to Africa, South America, and northeast, south and Southeast Asia. This review describes recent VBI-related epidemiological studies conducted by AFHSC-GEIS partner laboratories within the OCONUS DoD laboratory network emphasizing their impact on human populations.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Map inset: Major Accomplishments of the AFHSC-GEIS Vector-borne Illness Surveillance Program
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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