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From time immemorial vector-borne diseases have decimated the fighting capacity of armies and caused suspension or cancellation of military operations. For this reason vector control strategies have always been a major requirement in ensuring the operational readiness of armed forces. Using malaria as an example, this article provides an update on vector control methods used by the French army in terms of available tools and of their applications in function of the operational situation. In coming years vector control strategies must be modernized not only by assessing vector-borne disease threats in the field and improving resources available to troops but also by professionalizing this service by creating specialized units.

Identification of the anopheline mosquito species involved in local transmission as well as knowledge of its biology and behavior is necessary for malaria vector control. To allow such study, two methods are usually used to capture adult mosquitoes, i.e., night catches on human volunteers and light-trap collections with human bait. The purpose of this article is to describe these two methods including their advantages and disadvantages as well as a method of surveying breeding sites as implemented by French Army personnel.

Bedbugs have been man's faithful companions from his cave days to the present time. After World War II, improvements in household and personal cleanliness and above all widespread use of insecticidal treatment led to a decline in the prevalence of bedbugs so that they became almost unknown to populations in industrialized countries. However in recent years a resurgence of bedbugs has been reported in North America as well as in most European countries. The purpose of this study is to provide an update on the comeback of bedbugs in France and the world, to discuss their impact on public health, and to consider possible causes for the current resurgence.

Triatominae are biting hematophageous insects that have been wild vectors of the parasite Trypanosoma curzi for thousands of years. The arrival of man with his cortege of domestic animals and impact on the natural environment led these insects to adapt to the human environment so well that many species are now domesticated. Insect extermination programs have allowed satisfactory control of parasite transmission but have also promoted replacement of the exterminated species by species that were once semi-domestic or wild.

Over the last 50 years the Asian tiger mosquito Aedes (stegomyia) albopictus (Skuse) has spread to all continents in the old and new world. This anthropophilous species is able to adapt to most climates. Although long considered as a secondary disease vector, it has been shown to be competent for arbovirus transmission under laboratory conditions. In several locations that it has invaded, the tiger mosquito has played a major role in arbovirus transmission (dengue fever and chikungunya). A recent example is the outbreak of chikungunya on the Indian Ocean island of Reunion

Vector-borne diseases constitutes a threat to the operational capability of armed forces personnel operating outside or stationed overseas. To take this risk into account, the French armed forces medical corps created a medical entomology unit in 2003. The primary function of this unit is to monitor the entomological status of French military bases in sub-Saharan Africa (identification of vectors, study of vector behavior, and measurement of resistance to insecticides) as a means of maintaining an effective vector-control strategy. The French medical entomology unit takes part in the Impact Vector project aimed at evaluating the vector-borne disease risks for troops in combat situations, contributes its expertise to the investigation of epidemic disease, and participates in the development of a global strategy for vector-control for the armed services. To improve understanding and control of vector-borne disease risks, the unit provides basic training in medical entomology to army physicians, veterinarians, and pharmacists as well as to others involved in control programs. The purpose of this article is to present the results of the unit's first activities: investigation of a malaria epidemic that occurred in Ivory Coast in 2003, measurement of malaria exposure over a 4-month period in a combat group on duty in rural Africa, and initial evaluation of control techniques (spraying around living quarters and use of insecticide-impregnated battle dress).