100 PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 20, NO. 5, MAY, 1918 



Insects are largely involved in the transmission of army diseases 



One has but to read the literature of the present war to see that 

 the insect borne diseases are among the most important. In 

 fact I believe we may place foremost of all the diseases which have 

 ravaged the European armies the three lice borne diseases, typhus, 

 trench fever and relapsing fever. Next to the louse the medical 

 literature of this war contains more references to flies than any 

 other insects, and the principal flies are of course Musca domestica, 

 ' Calliphora, vomitoria, Lucilia caesar, Sarcophaga carnaria and 

 other flesh flies, and the diseases they are responsible for spread- 

 ing are typhoid fever, dysentery and diarrhoea, and Siberian sore 

 (anthrax). Malignant jaundice in the trenches is suspected but 

 not proven of insect transmission. A great deal of the septicaemia 

 following wounds is caused or aggravated by insect visits before 

 the injury is- dressed, and while the injured man is lying on the 

 battle field. Malaria is of course a serious army problem, espe- , 

 cially in our southern states. 



Insects are largely involved in outbreaks of war time epidemics 



Of the great epidemics which have swept the world since the 

 beginning of the war probably the greatest have been the outbreaks 

 of typhus which wiped out a large part of the Serbian nation, 

 decimated Roumania, took terrific toll of Russian prisoners in 

 jGermany, and swept through the Austrian armies. When we 

 think that merely the controlling of the body louse stopped these 

 epidemics we begin to realize what a menace these little creatures, 

 so long endured, are to human life. And now trench feve has 

 spread out of the trenches and is serious behind the lines. Out- 

 breaks of plague, a flea-borne disease are reported from many 

 countries. As famine advances in the wake of war, the weakened 

 populace become more and more subject to such epidemics. We 

 are all familiar with the history of our Spanish American war 

 when thousands of our boys died of typhoid fever and other fly- 

 borne diseases, and how in Cuba the reconcentrado camps were 

 swept with yellow fever and malaria. Wherever disease breaks 

 out, if caused by insects, the i\ation must be on its guard. 



Insects spread diseases of army animals 



The great animal scourge of this war is the mange of horses 

 caused by the scab mite. This has become so serious that entire 

 veterinary hospital units are set aside for its cure. Great progress 

 is bein made in the handling of the disease. In the various zones 

 of army activities there are many insect and tick borne diseases 



