Biodegradable Pesticides in Public Health Entomology
eases. Some place along the line, some one must study the implementation of disease
prevention/control programs. Somehow populations must be educated as to the why
and how, then be motivated to use sanitary and hygienic methods to diminish the
incidence of disease.
225
As the 1972 Charles Franklin Craig Lecturer of the American Society of
Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, Dr. Carlos Sanmartin (1973) of Colombia spoke
in a similar vein:
In general, I should say that a revision of public health training and research policies
is mandatory in our countries .... We should concentrate on the most urgent needs.
We should not be ashamed of teaching and insisting that the careful examination of
a thick film for malaria, the opportune and correct diagnosis of meningitis, the responsible identification of the different stages of Entamoeba histolytica, the search
for coliform organisms in drinking water, proper knowledge of the poisonous snakes
and the adequate treatment of their victims, the ability to recognize the presence of
Aedes aegypti in a locality and so forth are legitimate, useful and even respectable
activities .... So many things, in a word, that are attainable without resorting to
complicated methods.
In an earlier paragraph I stated that good surveillance is our first line of
defense against zoonoses, but Sanmartin cites how a huge dengue epidemic
swept through Barranquilla and other Caribbean urban centers of Colombia for
6 months, producing at least one-half million cases, without any national or
international public health agency having any suspicion. He cites, in addition,
an equine outbreak of VEE, in close proximity to the Cali international airport,
that went 3 weeks before detection. These occurrences were in 1972 and 1967,
respectively.
Narrowing from this broader scope to a consideration of public health
entomology, I believe that there is a need to develop and support more researchers
who are target-species-oriented rather than technology-oriented, researchers who
will devote themselves to studying a target species long enough to define the
problem that it poses, to understand the ecological interrelationships in the target
habitat, and to search for points at which, and methods by which, the system
may be most safely and efficiently manipulated. In perusing the applied literature,
it becomes apparent that, in reporting the results of technology testing, we seldom
define the specific health or nuisance problem posed, seldom interpret the results
in relation to the biology of the target species, and seldom discuss what the
results mean in relation to alleviating the problem.
Economic thresholds have received a great deal of attention in agricultrual
entomology. It is difficult to place a value on human health or on increased
comfort resulting from reduced exposure to anthropophilic and synanthropic
insects. Nevertheless, an equivalent term, which might be called the "tolerance
limit," is needed in medical entomology. For example, a ULV application of
insecticide may reduce the adult mosquito density in an area by 85%, 6 hr
posttreatment. But does an 85% reduction bring the landing rate down to lImin
eases. Some place along the line, some one must study the implementation of disease
prevention/control programs. Somehow populations must be educated as to the why
and how, then be motivated to use sanitary and hygienic methods to diminish the
incidence of disease.
225
As the 1972 Charles Franklin Craig Lecturer of the American Society of
Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, Dr. Carlos Sanmartin (1973) of Colombia spoke
in a similar vein:
In general, I should say that a revision of public health training and research policies
is mandatory in our countries .... We should concentrate on the most urgent needs.
We should not be ashamed of teaching and insisting that the careful examination of
a thick film for malaria, the opportune and correct diagnosis of meningitis, the responsible identification of the different stages of Entamoeba histolytica, the search
for coliform organisms in drinking water, proper knowledge of the poisonous snakes
and the adequate treatment of their victims, the ability to recognize the presence of
Aedes aegypti in a locality and so forth are legitimate, useful and even respectable
activities .... So many things, in a word, that are attainable without resorting to
complicated methods.
In an earlier paragraph I stated that good surveillance is our first line of
defense against zoonoses, but Sanmartin cites how a huge dengue epidemic
swept through Barranquilla and other Caribbean urban centers of Colombia for
6 months, producing at least one-half million cases, without any national or
international public health agency having any suspicion. He cites, in addition,
an equine outbreak of VEE, in close proximity to the Cali international airport,
that went 3 weeks before detection. These occurrences were in 1972 and 1967,
respectively.
Narrowing from this broader scope to a consideration of public health
entomology, I believe that there is a need to develop and support more researchers
who are target-species-oriented rather than technology-oriented, researchers who
will devote themselves to studying a target species long enough to define the
problem that it poses, to understand the ecological interrelationships in the target
habitat, and to search for points at which, and methods by which, the system
may be most safely and efficiently manipulated. In perusing the applied literature,
it becomes apparent that, in reporting the results of technology testing, we seldom
define the specific health or nuisance problem posed, seldom interpret the results
in relation to the biology of the target species, and seldom discuss what the
results mean in relation to alleviating the problem.
Economic thresholds have received a great deal of attention in agricultrual
entomology. It is difficult to place a value on human health or on increased
comfort resulting from reduced exposure to anthropophilic and synanthropic
insects. Nevertheless, an equivalent term, which might be called the "tolerance
limit," is needed in medical entomology. For example, a ULV application of
insecticide may reduce the adult mosquito density in an area by 85%, 6 hr
posttreatment. But does an 85% reduction bring the landing rate down to lImin