From 26 May – 2 June, a research team from the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research-Europe-Middle East conducted vector surveillance at multiple locations across the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.
This effort represented the first time that WRAIR-EME has conducted vector surveillance in Jordan or in the Middle East. The surveillance involved sampling for ticks, mosquitos, and sandflies at military locations in east Jordan and non-military sites in the vicinity of major cities.
Data shows that non-battlefield diseases reflect a leading cause of casualties among service members. Such non-battlefield diseases can include West Nile virus, Crimean Congo hemorrhagic fever, Zika virus, Dengue fever, and other vector-borne diseases. WRAIR-EME initiated this vector surveillance project to better understand these threats to force health within Jordan.
“Some of the common sources of illness in soldiers do not come from the battlefield – they come from arthropods,” explained Capt. Cody Phelps, senior scientist at WRAIR-EME. “Arthropods like mosquitos and ticks carry disease that can have a major impact on the service members that are deployed to Jordan.”
Resulting from this vector surveillance, four different species of mosquito were identified in Jordan. One of those mosquito species, Culex sinaiticus, had not been previously collected by WRAIR-EME. Further analysis of these specimens will help to identify whether there are specific vector-borne diseases present in the sampled regions of Jordan.
“The pathogen screening for these samples is ongoing,” said Capt. Phelps. “The disease threats we identify from these samples will be sent to our partners, CENTCOM, and public health providers in order to ensure service members know what preventative measures to take.”
However, vector surveillance isn’t finished after one sampling trip and the surveillance team has already developed plans for process improvement moving forward. Future surveillance trips will be performed within Jordan at varying times of the year to capture a variety of vectors during peak collection times.
“It’s essential to know what vector-borne diseases are present in Jordan,” said Capt. Phelps. “Force health protection is our main goal – it’s our job to keep the solider healthy and safe so that they can do their job.”
Learn more about WRAIR-EME’s vector surveillance and other capabilities on the website: https://mrdg.health.mil/
Date Taken: | 07.30.2025 |
Date Posted: | 07.30.2025 11:02 |
Story ID: | 544246 |
Location: | JO |
Web Views: | 92 |
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