Field evaluation of commercial off-the-shelf spatial repellents against the Asian tiger mosquito, Aedes Albopictus (Skuse), and the potential for use during deployment.

The Testing and Evaluation Department of the US Navy Entomology Center of Excellence (NECE), Naval Air Station, Jacksonville, Florida, is dedicated to the evaluation of novel equipment and vector control techniques to provide guidance on effective protection measures against human pathogens transmitted by blood-feeding arthropods. Personal protective measures (PPM), to include repellents, are part of a series of techniques that contribute toward reducing human-vector contact for globally and domestically deployed military forces. However, improper PPM use and limited availability has created vulnerabilities, causing troops to purchase spatial repellent products that are not approved by the Department of Defense. In order to ensure the most effective products are available, NECE has evaluated the spatial repellency response of Aedes albopictus (Skuse) to 4 commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) spatial repellents to provide technical guidance on proper use and effectiveness. The COTS products evaluated ThermaCELL, OFF! Clip On, Lentek Bite Shield, and Bug Button Mosquito Eliminator. A Biogents Sentinel (BGS) trap was placed in 5 locations with a spatial repellent device suspended at the level of the BGS trap opening over 4 of them (the fifth was control). Each trap catch was collected every 12 hours, at which time the spatial repellent device was rotated to the next position. Using this method, each spatial repellent device and control was rotated across each of the 5 locations a total of 6 times. Spatial repellent efficiency was evaluated by comparing the total number of mosquitoes collected in the BGS traps during a 12-hour period. The number of adult mosquitoes repelled by the ThermaCell spatial repellent was significantly more than other spatial repellents with the exception of OFF!. These data indicate that COTS products using repellent insecticide rather than botanicals are more effective at deterring Ae. albopictus from biting a host.