Abstract

For most of the company's history, ISCA Technologies' main focus for semiochemical research has been on the development of solutions using these behavior-modifying chemicals to manage agricultural insect pests. However, in recent years, ISCA scientists have expanded their research into another field: management of hematophagous vectors of disease, including mosquitoes, responsible for transmitting such widespread and devastating diseases as malaria, dengue, lymphatic filariasis, Zika, and West Nile virus; and ticks, which transmit Lyme disease, anaplasmosis, and babesiosis, among others. Discussed herein are four examples of semiochemical-based technologies utilizing the attract-and-kill approach to suppress populations of disease-carrying arthropods: Vectrax, SPLAT BAC, Trojan Cow, and SPLAT TK. Each of these formulations is being developed to achieve effective control of vector populations by a different mechanism, by manipulating a different aspect of the target vector's behavior. Vectrax is a flowable formulation comprising a blend of floral attractants and phagostimulants, intended to attract adult sugar-seeking mosquitoes of any species, sex, or physiological status. Vectrax is designed to be blended with the user's insecticide of choice just prior to application, a process comprised of tank-mixing. As a larvicide formulation, SPLAT BAC targets mosquitoes at the larval stage of their life cycle, before they mature into adults capable of breeding or transmitting disease, incorporating two bacterial control agents, Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis and Bacillus sphaericus, in ISCA's controlled release SPLAT technology (Specialized Pheromone & Lure Application Technology). If the development of this product is successful, the controlled-release matrix will enable SPLAT BAC to be applied to prospective larval habitats preemptively before a rain event, a major advantage over previously developed larvicides. Trojan Cow is designed to manipulate the host-seeking behavior of anthropophilic (human-preferring) mosquitoes, by applying a scent cue associated with humans to livestock animals treated with the deworming medication, ivermectin. This compound, which benefits the treated animal by reducing infestation by helminthic parasites, is lethal to both the malaria vector (Anopheles mosquitoes) and the parasite (Plasmodium spp.). SPLAT TK targets the deer tick, Ixodes scapularis, the vector of Lyme disease the most common vector-borne illness in the U.S. by sustaining the controlled release of arrestment pheromones along the borders of areas where contact between the tick vector and its host is most likely to occur (hiking trails, backyards, etc.). In field studies, these arrestment pheromones caused host-seeking ticks to approach and cluster around point sources of SPLAT TK, containing a tank-mixed acaricide, creating the opportunity to eliminate them before they can attach to a human or animal host. Adoption of effective semiochemical-based technologies like those whose research and development are described here could change the way arthropods vectors of disease are managed around the world, providing safer, more effective tools for their control.

Published in

ACS Symposium Series
2018, Volume: 1289, number: 1289, pages: 101-152
Title: Advances in the Biorational Control of Medical and Veterinary Pests
ISBN: 9780841233591, eISBN: 9780841233584

Conference

254th ACS National Meeting

SLU Authors

• Dekker, Teun

  • Department of Plant Protection Biology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

Sustainable Development Goals

Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages


UKÄ Subject classification

Public Health, Global Health, Social Medicine and Epidemiology


Publication identifier

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/bk-2018-1289.ch007

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/97364