The Walter Reed Biosystematics Unit ("WRBU") is a

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, c ...

organization that conducts laboratory and field research on the

systematics Biological systematics is the study of the diversification of living forms, both past and present, and the relationships among living things through time. Relationships are visualized as evolutionary trees (synonyms: cladograms, phylogenetic t ...

of medically important

arthropod Arthropods (, (gen. ποδός)) are invertebrate animals with an exoskeleton, a Segmentation (biology), segmented body, and paired jointed appendages. Arthropods form the phylum Arthropoda. They are distinguished by their jointed limbs and Arth ...

s in support of

epidemiological Epidemiology is the study and analysis of the distribution (who, when, and where), patterns and determinants of health and disease conditions in a defined population. It is a cornerstone of public health, and shapes policy decisions and evide ...

investigations and

disease prevention Preventive healthcare, or prophylaxis, consists of measures taken for the purposes of disease prevention.Hugh R. Leavell and E. Gurney Clark as "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life, and promoting physical and mental hea ...

and control strategies of importance to the military.Pollie L.M. Rueda and Rick Wilkerson (2007)
“Know The Vector, Know The Threat”
accessed Feb. 7, 2016.Walter Reed Biosystematics Unit
accessed 17 Oct 2017. Research is carried out worldwide, within geographic or faunistic restrictions of the material available and military requirements. Research efforts focus on the development of accurate and reliable means of identifying vectors of arbopathogens of

human Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex brain. This has enabled the development of advanced tools, culture, ...

s. The WRBU also performs arthropod collections management for the

Department of Entomology, National Museum of Natural History The Department of Entomology is a research department and collection unit of the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History (NMNH), located in Washington, D.C. The department houses the U.S. National Insect Collection, one of th ...

mosquito Mosquitoes (or mosquitos) are members of a group of almost 3,600 species of small flies within the family Culicidae (from the Latin ''culex'' meaning "gnat"). The word "mosquito" (formed by ''mosca'' and diminutive ''-ito'') is Spanish for "lit ...

collection and maintains a molecular entomology laboratory within the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

Museum Support Center for joint use of WRBU and National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) personnel.

History

Army

entomologist Entomology () is the scientific study of insects, a branch of zoology. In the past the term "insect" was less specific, and historically the definition of entomology would also include the study of animals in other arthropod groups, such as arach ...

s began formal collaborations with

entomologists as early as 1961. The WRBU's unit lineage begins with the stand up of the Army Mosquito Project (AMP) in 1964. In 1966, the AMP's mission was refocused on the vectorborne disease threat facing troops deployed to

southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...

for the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

and the unit was reorganized as the Southeast Asia Mosquito Project (SEAMP).O.S. Flint, Jr., A.S. Menke, F.C. Thompson & R.A. Ward (1976)
''The United States National Entomological Collections''
Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press. pp. 25–26;. After the war in southeast Asia wound down, SEAMP was reorganized in 1974 as the Medical Entomology Project (MEP) to encompass a broader long-term mission. In 1981, the MEP was reorganized as the Walter Reed Biosystematics Unit, and the unit has retained that identity through subsequent moves and restructurings.Martha M. Hamilton
"The PEST in 'Pestilence'"
''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large n ...

'', June 21, 1998, accessed Feb. 7, 2016. The name commemorates U.S. Army physician Major

Walter Reed Walter Reed (September 13, 1851 – November 22, 1902) was a U.S. Army physician who in 1901 led the team that confirmed the theory of Cuban doctor Carlos Finlay that yellow fever is transmitted by a particular mosquito species rather than ...

who in 1901 led the team that established that yellow fever is transmitted by mosquitoes. The WRBU currently (2017) operates under the direction of the Department of

Entomology Entomology () is the scientific study of insects, a branch of zoology. In the past the term "insect" was less specific, and historically the definition of entomology would also include the study of animals in other arthropod groups, such as arach ...

Walter Reed Army Institute of Research The Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR) is the largest biomedical research facility administered by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD). The institute is centered at the Forest Glen Annex, in the Forest Glen Park part of the u ...

(WRAIR), with laboratories and offices in the Smithsonian Museum Support Center in Suitland, Maryland. Collaborative partners in addition to the WRAIR include the U. S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command, the NMNH, and the Armed Forces Pest Management Board.

Specimen collection

The WRBU assists in conserving the NMNH Mosquito Collection, the largest mosquito collection in the world, with over 1.5 million specimens. The WRBU maintains and secures specimens, handles transactions including loans of material, improves the collection, provides assistance to Department of Entomology personnel,

Research Associates, visiting scientists, and mosquito researchers in locating and examining specimens in the collection.

Primary research projects

* ''Medically Important Vectors'': Current and upcoming projects include: a mosquito genus key for the

United States Southern Command The United States Southern Command (USSOUTHCOM), located in Doral, Florida in Greater Miami, is one of the eleven unified combatant commands in the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for providing contingency planning, o ...

(SOUTHCOM)

Area of Responsibility Area of responsibility (AOR) is a pre-defined geographic region assigned to Combatant commanders of the Unified Command Plan (UCP), that are used to define an area with specific geographic boundaries where they have the authority to plan and con ...

(AOR); computer-based identification keys to the ''

Anopheles ''Anopheles'' () is a genus of mosquito first described and named by J. W. Meigen in 1818. About 460 species are recognised; while over 100 can transmit human malaria, only 30–40 commonly transmit parasites of the genus '' Plasmodium'', whi ...

malaria Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or deat ...

vectors of the SOUTHCOM AOR, including keys to all ''

'' adult and larval mosquitoes of Central America, and taxonomic revision and key to adult ''

subgenus In biology, a subgenus (plural: subgenera) is a taxonomic rank directly below genus. In the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, a subgeneric name can be used independently or included in a species name, in parentheses, placed betw ...

'' Nyssorhynchus'' of Central and South America; an illustrated identification guide for ''

'' mosquitoes of Africa; creation of identification tools for the medically important culicine (non-''Anopheles'') mosquitoes of Central and South America; web-based identification keys to ''

'' adult female and larval mosquitoes belonging to

subgenera In biology, a subgenus (plural: subgenera) is a taxonomic rank directly below genus. In the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, a subgeneric name can be used independently or included in a species name, in parentheses, placed betwee ...

'' Kerteszia'' and ''

'' of South America; an illustrated identification guide for the medically important sand flies of Southwest Asia; and a web-based illustrated identification guide for the

Phlebotomine The Phlebotominae are a subfamily of the family Psychodidae. In several countries, their common name is sandfly; but that name is also applied to other flies. The Phlebotominae include many genera of blood-feeding ( hematophagous) flies, includin ...

sand flies of Central and South America. * ''VectorMap'': An online, geospatially-referenced website for mosquito, sand fly, tick, mite, flea and host/ reservoir species observation data and distribution models that allows researchers and vector control personnel to access maps that display vector observation data from a variety of databases as points or country-level aggregations, and interrogate these layers to learn more about the observations. Users also have access to supplemental layers representing species richness estimates and predicted species distribution useful in identifying potential new collection locations.

References

External links

Walter Reed Biosystematics Unit homepage

VectorMap homepage

Systematic Catalog of Culicidae

{{DEFAULTSORT:Walter Reed Biosystematics Unit Military medical organizations of the United States United States Army medical research facilities Biosystematics Unit Forest Glen Annex