AirWolf  

                                                                                      Research Priorities                                                                                                                                          By Richard Howe

I have recently retired, and turned the operation over to my son Eric, However at this time, my daughter Nicole and I have formed a Florida, not for profit research institute, with the above name.  This organization is going to be dedicated to the elimination of malaria in Africa, simply by eliminating the mosquito.  The methods currently used only achieve modest reduction in parasite transmission, and  will never eliminate malaria in Africa.  The time has come, with recent advances in the development of aerosol generators, as a practical matter, to accomplish this task.    

Mosquito control consists of two elements, physics and chemistry.  There is not one institution devoted to training aerial applicator pilots in the art and science of dispensing mosquito control insecticides.  I have more experience than anyone in the States and was given no training at all before I was issued a license 24 years ago, for this purpose.  The  physics of insecticide aerosol cloud propagation is simply not well understood and never will, if someone does not take the lead in researching this most important aspect of the art.

The chemistry fares a little better than the physics of mosquito control.  The most famous and most important chemical tool in the fight against malaria is of course DDT.  DDT got a bad reputation in the 1960’s, with the publication of  Silent Spring, a book written by Rachel Carson.  I have read her book and was surprised to find that she was not so much against the use of chemical insecticides, as she was against the abuse of these products.  Not much has changed since her day.  The mosquito control industry, in spite of a mountain of EPA regulations is stuck in the 50’s.  The overuse and abuse of chemistry is still with us to the detriment of the environment.  The overuse of chemical insecticides is what induces resistance, not the under use.  If used responsibly DDT still has a future in malaria vector control. 

I would like to recommend a series of projects for consideration that address the application of insecticides, and the formulation of new compounds, for vector control. In the area of aerosol cloud propagation, there is not much known, except the insecticide cloud floats downwind of the aircraft.  However the optimum release height, lane interval spacing, system flow rate variables needed to establish the most equal cloud density and the most optimum droplet spectrum, are all variables, that in my opinion are in need of extensive study.  At present what is done to optimize application efficiencies is just educated guesswork.  In order to do this properly, someone is going to have to invent a system of remote sensing stations, that in addition to measuring insecticide cloud densities, also has the ability to conduct a mosquito population survey as well.  Once this is accomplished, a minimum insecticide aerosol cloud density, necessary to obtain good control, can be established to avoid wasting insecticide.   

In addition to studying the physics of aerosol cloud propagation I would like to see a concerted effort in the area of chemistry.  We have the old fashioned poisons like DDT, permethrin, malathion and naled.  These products affect the nervous system of the insect and in effect turn out the lights and cause the mosquito to die.  Methods that have never been used to my knowledge are.  Synergizing insecticides, using surfactants to reduce surface tension of the droplet, allowing insecticide to penetrate the insect and become systemic.  Insecticides are effective without the surfactant, the advantage of this method will allow for a reduction of insecticide.  Using a descant to dissolve some of the wax coating on the insect and allow it to “bleed” to death is another method that should be studied.  Research into the use of  biological insecticide formulations have the potential of providing a cheap and environmentally safe method for dealing with  malaria.  Another alternative would employ the use of irritants, this would constitute an indirect method, smoking the mosquito into the open, to get a clear shot at it.  Mosquitoes are not strong fliers, for aerosolized insecticides to work, mosquitoes have to be flying.  Some insecticides like DDT and permethrin are natural irritants and could be used in conjunction with descants and biological compounds. 

A method of dispensing more than one compound at a time, is another approach that could act as a force multiplier.  Insecticide compounds should not be dispensed mixed together with the exception of a surfactant used as synergist. These compounds in my opinion should be dispensed, using individual aerosol generators, for maximum effectiveness.  In conjunction with independent aerosol generators, the ability to vary delivery rates using multiple units, will lend itself to optimization of product usage.

In Summary, it is imperative, we educate ourselves in the Physics and Chemistry of mosquito vector control.  To work smarter not harder.  We have a worthy adversary, the anopholine mosquito.    

Every human should not have to suffer from Malaria.  Not with the knowledge and technology that is out there now.