AirWolf  

 We are non Profit 501c3 organization.Our Mission is  to eliminate Malaria in Africa. We need to share information and work together doing hands on projects that will benefit Africa.What we are doing is not working!  Lets do something about it!

 Aerial Application and Infectious Disease

 BY Brian Schertz

Since the beginning of mankind, infectious disease has brought humans suffering, pain, and death on a horrific scale. Throughout history scourges such as smallpox, the black plague, and influenza killed large segments of the worldwide population, disrupting nations, society, and the basic activities of human life. As technology advanced in the decades following the industrial revolution, mankind developed new, powerful weapons to aid in the fight against disease. With antibiotics and new synthetic chemicals, society moved into a new era of disease control. Rather than simply quarantine disease victims
and wait for the epidemic to pass, people could treat the disease by destroying the source of infection through antibiotics. More importantly, people could begin to prevent disease through the management of the vectors of certain insect borne ailments.

The most important of these insect vectors of disease is the mosquito, which through its feeding on blood, can transmit diseases such as malaria and the West Nile  Virus from human to human or from animal to human. Aerial application is a critical tool in managing these types of diseases for several reasons. First, in vector borne diseases, it is crucial to combat the vector instead of simply trying to control the disease
as it appears in human cases. This can be accomplished through the use of chemical products that kill the mosquitoes. Since the 1950’s, chemicals such as DDT, Malathion, and various pyrethroids have been used to control mosquitoes. Malaria eradication programs were successful in the United States, wiping out malaria by the early 1950’s.
In 1955, the World Health Organization began a worldwide eradication campaign of malaria using a combination of DDT spraying efforts and anti-malarial drug treatments.

This campaign failed to achieve the goal of worldwide eradication, and was abandoned in
1969 as public support of DDT disappeared, resistance issues increased, and funding became more of an issue. Since that time malaria has become an even greater problem in tropical areas of the world, infecting some 300-500 million annually and causing roughly  3 million deaths a year.

Current malaria control efforts are focused more on containing and limiting the  disease than complete eradication of mosquitoes as was seen in the 1950’s and 1960’s.
To control the mosquito population, spraying is crucial, though resistance issues and  environmental concerns have limited the use of such tactics as blanket spraying and the  arsenal of available chemicals. To disperse these chemicals, there are only two viable  options, to spray them on the ground or from the air. The ground method, ranging from  hand sprayers to truck mounted units, is effective in some cases but very labor and
equipment intensive and terribly inefficient when it comes to treating large areas. Aerial  application, on the other hand, has major advantages in the speed and ease at which large
areas (entire cities, counties, etc.) can be sprayed with a relatively small amount of  manpower and equipment. Rather than have a village or city sprayed by ground, which
would take many crews several days to complete and disrupt the normal social activities  of the area, when done by air only one or two planes could complete it over one night.
The major roadblock towards this kind of aerial spraying campaign to fight malaria  generally comes from the environmental groups in the developed nations, which protest
the use of chemicals. These groups can often stop the flow of funds into spraying  programs and this leads to more suffering and death in the developing world. An  example of this kind of ignorant opposition to life saving spraying is DDT. DDT,
developed during World War Two, was demonized by the environmental groups in the 1970’s. Following the publication of Silent Spring by Rachel Carson, the United States
and much of the developed world banned the use of this powerful disease fighting tool.  While there are negative environmental impacts to the use of this product, one must
balance those affects with the positives of this lifesaving product. With its long residual  and low toxicity to humans, DDT continues to be the developing world’s best chemical
weapon against malaria carrying mosquitoes. Since most of the funds to fight malaria  come from the major industrial nations (most of which are opposed to DDT), often the
money comes with restrictions and pressure not to use DDT. This presents a problem for  the affected nations, nearly all of which are poorer and cannot afford to battle malaria on
their own, for it forces them into less effective control efforts that also cost more money. This leads to more malaria cases than if the best control solution was utilized.

While malaria is no longer a problem within the United States, other mosquito  borne diseases are a threat within this country. The West Nile Virus is the best  publicized of these disease threats. While the toll from this virus is small compared to
malaria, it still is a lethal disease. Since it first arrived in the United States, it has alarmed  public health experts and, owing largely to a great deal of media attention, frightened the
general public. This threat has prompted many local and state authorities to introduce  mosquito control measures, including spraying. In these efforts the pesticides of choice  have been either Malathion or one of the pyrethriod family. As in the struggle against  malaria, aerial application is an important part of the mitigation effort. With their low  disturbance of populations and large capacity, airplanes provide the best way of applying  the selected mosquito product. Despite the increased effectiveness and efficiency of  airplane spraying, many towns and cities have chose to utilize ground based sprayers due  to a variety of factors, including public stigma of airplane spraying, small areas to cover, and a desire of greater control by city governments. In order to combat this, both for the  industry and public health, more must be done to educate the public on the advantages of  aerial mosquito control and aerial application in general. This will increase the
effectiveness of mosquito control efforts and result in fewer cases and human fatalities
from the West Nile Virus.

As we look into the future of man’s battle with disease, no one can predict the  outright victory that seemed a forgone conclusion only fifty years ago. However, with  proper management and innovation, man can continue to fight infectious disease with the  achievements of modern science, increasing the quality of life for all people. Aerial
application is an important part of this strategy, as it is the only technology to deliver  chemical products to a wide range of problem areas, from urban centers to rural
communities to rugged desolate forest or jungle. With speed and precision, only  airplanes can react quickly to deprive deadly infections of their insect vectors, thus
preventing epidemics and slowing those already in progress. As we progress in our  knowledge and technology, the chemicals and delivery systems may evolve and change,
but there will always be a need for aerial application to assist worldwide disease fighting  programs.

BIBILIOGRAPHY
Cowley, Geoffrey. “The Endless Plague.” Newsweek. 11 January 1993. pp. 56.
“Economic Costs of Malaria.” Roll Back Malaria, World Health Organization.
http://www.rbm.who.int/cmc_upload/0/000/015/363/RBMInfosheet_10.htm.
Garret, Laurie. The Coming Plague: Newly Emerging Diseases in a World out of
Balance. Penguin Books, NY: 1995.
Schneiderman, R. M. “Reliable Intel in the War on Malaria.” Newsweek. Atlantic
Edition. 21 March 2005. pp. 47.
Spielman, Andrew and Michael D’Antonio. Mosquito: A Natural History of Our Most
Persistent and Deadly Foe. Hyperion, NY: 2001.