Effectiveness of insecticide-treated clothing to prevent tick and mosquito exposure in loggers in western North Carolina
Grant
Overview
abstract
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Loggers in the forestry industry face occupational hazards and high injury/fatality rates. Although injuries caused by equipment accidents and felled trees are well documented, implications of biological health hazards such as insect bites and vector borne disease are not fully understood. Outdoor workers are exposed to potential pathogen vectors such as mosquitoes and ticks in wooded habitats. In North Carolina (NC), ticks and mosquitoes are known to transmit pathogens that cause diseases such as Rocky Mountain spotted fever (tick), Lyme Disease (tick), West Nile fever (mosquito), Eastern equine encephalitis (mosquito). While spray- and/or lotion-based repellants can be applied directly to skin and/or clothing, repellant/insecticide-treated clothing is also available. The primary objective of this study is to assess risk and develop actionable prevention/intervention strategies aimed at mitigating the effects of biological hazards. The following specific aims will be pursued: 1) Characterize the exposure risk of loggers to mosquito and tick bites, and 2) Assess the effectiveness of repellant/insecticide-treated clothing for the prevention of mosquito and tick bites. Potential vectors will be collected at study sites, identified to species, and frozen for future pathogen detection analysis. Participants will be asked to submit personal clothing to be professionally treated with repellant, along with instructions about reporting exposure. We expect our findings to benefit both worker health and stakeholder interests. This approach will provide baseline information on occupational exposure to biological hazards in NC, and data necessary for large-scale studies mitigating the effects of these hazards.
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