Inactive Total Small Business Set-Aside (FAR 19.5)

Vector-borne diseases are a major health problem worldwide having a significant impact in military forces and civilian populations in endemic regions. Effective prevention and control of vector-borne ... Vector-borne diseases are a major health problem worldwide having a significant impact in military forces and civilian populations in endemic regions. Effective prevention and control of vector-borne diseases require entomological surveillance in order to determine vector species composition and distribution, vector population densities, natural infection rates in vector populations, and other parameters needed to assess entomological risk in endemic regions. Moreover, there is limited information on vector-borne disease burden in DoD personnel in regions with a known elevated risk. The overall objective of NAMRU-6 Vector surveillance activities is to conduct surveillance of arthropod vector of pathogens of military importance across SOUTHCOM to better understand the full transmission cycle and provide robust FVBI risk assessments. Accomplishing this activity requires in-depth surveillance and on-site expertise in endemic sites to ensure accurate and reliable information to generate arthropod vector geographical distribution data and identify vector-borne pathogens. Colombia is a key country in South America, has a strategic location in the SOUTHCOM, and is an endemic region for tropical infectious diseases such as malaria, leishmaniasis, dengue, zika and re-emerging or emerging pathogens, for which vector species remain to be identified in highly endemic areas. Establishing vector surveillance capacity for NAMRU-6 in Colombia requires the services of a research institution that can collect entomological samples, identify tick, mosquito and sand fly specimens, and conduct laboratory experiments for pathogen detection on these specimens. In this regard, this project will allow the execution of tick-borne, mosquito-borne and sand fly-borne pathogen surveillance activities in Colombia to generate actionable data that can be used for the benefit of the war-fighter.