ABSTRACT
Although vector-borne diseases are specific to the region of the host, there is a necessity for surveillance or reference laboratories to perform standardized, high-throughput testing capable of meeting the needs of a changing military environment and response efforts. The development of standardized, high-throughput, semiquantitative real-time and reverse transcription real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) methods allows for the timely dissemination of data to interested parties while providing a platform in which long-term sample storage is possible for the testing of new pathogens of interest using a historical perspective. PCR testing allows for the analysis of multiple pathogens from the same sample, thus reducing the workload of entomologists in the field and increasing the ability to determine if a pathogen has spread beyond traditionally defined locations. US Army Public Health Command Region-Europe (USAPHCR-Europe) Laboratory Sciences (LS) has standardized tests for 9 pathogens at multiple life stages. All tests are currently under international accreditation standards. Using these PCR methods and laboratory model, which have universal Department of Defense application, the USAPHCR-Europe LS will generate quality data that is scientifically sound and legally defensible to support force health protection for the US military in both deployed and garrison environments.
