Rodent Feed-Through Insecticides Used to Control Sand Flies-

Registration and Field Work Challenge

Richard Poche’, Genesis LabsWellington, Colorado

The ProblemCutaneous Leishmaniasis

The Process• Screen compounds that are efficacious against

larval/adult sand flies• Develop formulation(s) that are species specific• Collect data for EPA Section 3 registration

application– Product chemistry– Product performance– Environmental safety– Regulatory hurtles

Rodent Species + Vector• Fat sand rat Psammomys obesus• Jird Meriones spp• Sand fly species

– Phlebotomus papatasi

Leishmania major ecology

Sand fly Sand ratSaltbush

Promastigote

Amastigote

Bait Development• Rodent food habits in the wild• Laboratory screening of potential bait ingredients• Attractants• Bait type

– Grain– Pellet– Gel ?

• Pilot field test• Large-scale field test

Colorado

Lab Studies with Fleas on Rodents

Mortality of P. papatasi 1st instar larvae due to imidacloprid

0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1

1.2

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Pro

po

rtio

n a

live

Day

male

female

Mortality of P. papatasi 1st instar larvae due to imidacloprid: effect of

host sex

Israel

Tunisia

Lab test using 0.025% imidacloprid bait presented to the jird Meriones

shawii

Control Test

Meriones M1 M2 M3 M4

Sept. 1, 2009 50g untreated

lab chow

50g untreated

lab chow

50g treated

bait

50g treated

bait

Sept. 1, 2009 bloodfed

40 ♀+ 10 ♂

bloodfed

40 ♀+ 10 ♂

bloodfed

40 ♀+ 10 ♂

bloodfed

40 ♀+ 10 ♂

No. ♀

bloodfed 39/40 38/40 37/40 40/40

Mortality 20

min. after

bloodmeal

0 0 37 40

Remarks. Test flies that did not take blood meals survived.

Efficacy of products on Phlebotomus argentipes larvae when fed Rattus rattus feces collected after

feed-through

DAY 1

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 110

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

DIFLUBENZURON 0.048%

FIPRONIL 0.015%

EPRINOMECTIN 0.01%

EPRINOMECTIN 0.025%

IVERMECTIN 0.025%

CONTROL% E

FF

ICA

CY

Fipronil 0.015% as a feed-through for use against P. argentipes

1 2 3 40

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Day 5Day 10

Per

cent

age

Days

Outcome

Field Rodent Flea Control Bait

• Targets ground squirrels- Spermophilus spp.• Oropsylla idahoensis, Hoplosyllus anomalus –

and other species• Soon to add prairie dogs Cynomys spp. and O.

hirsuta

Borchert, J. et al. 2009. J. Medical Entomology. In press.

Feed-through experiments with P. argentipes

• Ivermetcin• Ivermectin +

parziquantel• Diflubenzuron• Fipronil• Flumethrin

• Fenbendazole• Doramectin• Moxidectin• Beta-cyfluthrin• Garlic• Tetrachlorvinphos

Plans for 2010-11• Continue screening candidate compounds• Conduct field trials in Tunisia, Israel, and Egypt• Develop data package for selected compounds

for EPA approval• Conduct finalized testing using Good Laboratory

Practice Standards

AcknowledgementThis research was funded by the Deployed

War-Fighter Protection (DWFP) Research Program, funded by the US Department of Defense through the Armed Forces Pest

Management Board (AFPMB)

AcknowledgementsMany people who assisted with the study in some

way: Ed Rowton, Gideon Wasserberg, David Miller, David Poche, Marcus O’Bryon,

Elyes & Efm Zioua, Ruti Berger,

Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel, Pasteur Institute, Tunisia