Assessment of the contact and spatial efficacy of the BiteBarrier perimeter device for area control of Ixodes scapularis

Ticks and the pathogens they transmit constitute a substantial burden on public health. Prevention of tick-borne pathogen transmission relies on tick-bite prevention. Pyrethroids are effective for personal protection against tick bites and environmental treatment of tick-infested areas. The BiteBarrier, a highly volatile spatial emanator developed by Widder Brothers, impregnated with the synthetic pyrethroid, transfluthrin, is under investigation for potential as a ground-based barrier device to control tick vectors in limited outdoor settings. The BiteBarrier has demonstrated contact and spatial efficacy against I. scapularis in laboratory studies. In this study, a perimeter configuration of the BiteBarrier demonstrated contact and short range (< 1 cm) efficacy against I. scapularis adult females during a two-hour forced exposure period in a Peet Grady-style chamber. The series of phenotypic responses exhibited by adult female I. scapularis following exposure to the BiteBarrier perimeter in chamber were catalogued and described to support robust efficacy and behavioral studies. The potential bite and pathogen transmission risk associated with selected phenotypic response was investigated, with results suggesting that ticks exhibiting the protected and knockdown phenotypes constitute a limited bite risk.