Mission
The mission of the Department of Vector Surveillance and Control is:
- to provide the ADF with the best possible risk assessment, surveillance methods and protection against vectors of disease
- to provide advice on the latest control measures available for vectors, especially mosquitoes.
Facilities
- Australian Quarantine approved insectaries currently housing colonies of : Anopheles farauti, Anopheles stephensi, Aedes vigilax, Culex annulirostris and Aedes aegypti
- Laboratories dedicated to the screening and evaluation of insect repellents and insecticides
- Fully equipped laboratory for the molecular identification of vectors and the incrimination of vector species responsible for the transmission of malaria, arboviruses and filariasis
- Field sites in Australia for studying arbovirus transmission and evaluating insect repellents and insecticides - Mt Bundey NT, Cowley Beach QLD, Shoalwater Bay QLD and Wide Bay QLD.
- Field sites in Vietnam, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu for malaria vector and disease transmission studies
Current research projects
- Vector Borne Disease surveillance, transmission potential and risk assessment in countries where ADF personnel deploy.
- Conduct surveillance of arbovirus vectors: density, seasonality and infection rates in military training areas.
- Development of ecological niche models to predict vector distributions and the climatic factors associated with species distribution. Such models are useful in predicting future vector and disease distribution under various climate change scenarios.
- Evaluate personal protection measures used by the ADF under field conditions, especially topical mosquito repellents, impregnated military clothing, tentage and bednets for patrolling soldiers.
- Evaluate the use of pyrethroid insecticides in military fabrics in protecting against nuisance and vector mosquitoes.
- Studies on speciation and identification of Aedes, Culex and Anopheles species as vectors of malaria and arboviruses in southeast Asia and the southwest Pacific
- Vector surveillance as part of the control and elimination of malaria from the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu
Collaborators
Australian
- School of Biological Sciences and CSIRO Entomology, University of Queensland
- Tropical Public Health Program, Queensland Health, Cairns, Qld
- Department of Microbiology, University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Qld
- Queensland Health Scientific Services, Australia
- AusAID Pacific Malaria Initiative
International
- Defense Warfighters Program , Armed Forces Pest Management Board, Washington, USA
- Department of Military Medicine, and the Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology, Hanoi, Vietnam
- Institute of Malariology, Parasitology and Entomology. Quy Nhon, Vietnam
- Armed Forces Research Institute for Medical Sciences, Bangkok, Thailand
- United States Department of Agriculture, ARS, CMAVE, Gainesville, FL, USA