Annapolis, MD, January 27, 2016 – On March 13, 2016, in Maceió, Alagoas, Brazil, the Entomological Society of America (ESA) and the Sociedade Entomológica do Brasil (SEB) will host a meeting of the societies entomological world to talk about collaborative control options to combat one of the most lethal animal species in the world – Aedes aegypti a mosquito that transmits the Zika virus, dengue, chikungunya and yellow fever . The purpose of the summit will be to organize the international entomologist community to better control the diseases caused by mosquitoes in the Americas and around the world.
Under the title “Summit on the Aedes aegypti crisis in the Americas: Uniting to face a major challenge” , the summit is expected to bring together the world’s most prominent entomology researchers and several dozen other high-impact assistants to look for ways to fight this mosquito.
“The recent impact of the Zika virus has added urgency to a meeting that was already crucial,” said C. David Gammel, Executive Director of ESA. “Entomological societies are in a unique position to address issues related to the control of insects that spread these diseases by convening the global entomological community together with other related stakeholders.”
The meeting is the first of two summits to be organized by ESA in 2016 as part of the Grand Challenges Agenda, which looks for areas in which entomology can have a significant and positive impact on issues of importance to humanity. At this first summit, the leaders of the international entomological communities will meet with leaders from government agencies, industry representatives, public health experts and funders to discuss the crisis caused by this mosquito, as well as the ways in which that societies can respond. Establishing a sustainable program for the effective elimination of the mosquito is a central objective of this first summit. A second summit will be held in Orlando, Florida, during the International Congress of Entomology (ICE) in September 2016.
“Preparations to organize this important cover on Aedes aegypti began two years ago as a way to confront dengue and chikungunya, which have become a global epidemic with 2.35 million cases reported in the Americas alone,” said Dr. Grayson C. Brown, a researcher at the University of Kentucky, former president of ESA and co-director of the event. “Now that Zika has become a major health crisis, our mission has become much more crucial, it is vital that the world’s scientific leaders work together on this issue.”
Zika and chikungunya have been rapidly gaining momentum as serious threats to public health after their recent appearances in the Americas. The Aedes aegypti carries these and other life – threatening diseases, including dengue and yellow fever. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. They have recently identified Zika as a probable cause of microcephaly in newborn babies, which led to the US government. to issue warnings for travelers to the affected regions.
“There is a good reason to define the mosquito as the most dangerous animal in the world,” said Dr Luciano Moreira, a researcher at Fundação Oswaldo Cruz in Brazil and co-director of the summit. “A strategy of integrative control must be conceived, uniting different disciplines to control this lethal mosquito.”
The summit will be held in conjunction with the Brazilian and Latin American Entomology Congresses in the city of Maceió in Brazil. Entomological and scientific related societies, national and international, are invited to send representatives to attend this summit. The session will include scientific presentations in addition to plenary speakers, poster presentations, panels, subsidiary work sessions, and discussions about the next steps necessary for the action.
The Entomological Society of America is the largest organization in the world that caters to the professional and scientific needs of entomologists and people who work in related disciplines. Founded in 1889, ESA now has more than 7,000 members affiliated with educational institutions, health agencies, private industry and government. The members are researchers, professors, extension service personnel, administrators, marketing representatives, research technicians, consultants, students and hobistas. For more information, visit http://www.entsoc.org .
A Grand Challenge Agenda for Entomology 