Novel Trap for Ticks and Fleas Incorporating a CO2 Generator

Military personnel must be protected from diseases transmitted by ticks and fleas, including plague and Lyme disease. Effective surveillance of tick and flea vectors is vital to determine the population present, whether they are carrying disease, and whether control campaigns are working. Unfortunately, current surveillance tools are ineffective. TDA Research, Inc. (TDA) will develop an improved surveillance trap for tick and flea populations. A key component of the trap will be an integrated gas generator to produce the attractant CO2. The generator will be based on the current operating CO2 generator that TDA has developed over the last 6 years for vector surveillance. The tick and flea trap will be versatile, lightweight, rugged, and compact for portability. In developing the trap design, TDA and its team will integrate recent advances in understanding of vector behavior critical to trapping. In Phase I we will produce a trap design and fabricate prototypes for initial tests in an enclosure and in the field.