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Public Health | Global Health Engagement | Bug-Borne Illnesses | Mosquito-Borne Illnesses
This spring, the Army's Public Health Command-Pacific's Entomology and Environmental Molecular Biology Laboratory service lines will launch the first ever Pre-Exercise Vector Surveillance program for the Indo-Pacific region.
The new initiative is a pilot program funded by the Global Emerging Infections Surveillance program, also known as GEIS, a section of the Armed Forces Health Surveillance Branch.
The vision of GEIS is to mitigate the threat of emerging infectious diseases to the U.S. military through a global laboratory network. The network is designed to help influence force health protection decision-making and enhance global health security.
One of the primary ways GEIS accomplishes this task is by providing timely, actionable infectious disease surveillance information to Geographic Combatant Commands and partner agencies, according to Army Maj. Michael Kwon, director of PHC-P's Environmental Health Services Directorate.
"This initiative acquires fresh data on health threats related to vector-borne diseases," Kwon explained. "The goal is to provide combatant commanders with relevant intelligence on the prevalence of pathogens transmitted by arthropods, in order to make informed force health protection decisions."
Typically, vector-borne disease data is collected by advance exercise parties as part of an occupational and environmental health site assessment, or OEHSA.
"Field parties put in the heroic effort to get checklists completed, but there are competing interests for time. Often individuals prioritize those tasks they are most versatile in," explained Kwon. "Historically, environmental scientists focused on potable water, air sampling for industrial chemicals, or collected data on other health threats, and insufficient time is spent on trapping for vectors.