Mosquito abatement programs in remote or deployed settings face a diagnostic gap: Reference lab turnaround times of days to weeks make real-time decisions almost impossible. Co-Diagnostics, Inc., announced that it shipped laboratory equipment, consumables, and mosquito abatement reagents to an overseas United States Air Force (USAF) base, marking the first international deployment of its Vector Smart multiplex PCR surveillance platform.
Key Insights: Most overseas military installations lack on-site PCR capacity, leaving abatement decisions to off-base reference labs with multi-day turnaround. The delay costs actionable response time during peak transmission season. On-site multiplex PCR is now a procurement-stage requirement for any program managing vector-borne disease risk in deployed environments.
Multiplex PCR Mosquito Surveillance: Seven Pathogens, Three Assays, One Portable Platform
Vector Smart covers seven mosquito-borne pathogens across three multiplex PCR assays: West Nile virus, Eastern and Western equine encephalitis (EEE/WEE), St. Louis encephalitis, Zika, dengue, and chikungunya. Each assay runs on most open-source quantitative PCR (qPCR) platforms or the company’s Co-Dx Box, a 48-well magnetic induction thermal cycler with fixed optical paths, requiring no calibration.
| Assay | Target Pathogens | Geographic Scope |
| Vector Smart NAM-e | West Nile virus, Eastern equine encephalitis, St. Louis encephalitis | Eastern North America |
| Vector Smart NAM-w | West Nile virus, Western equine encephalitis, St. Louis encephalitis | Western North America |
| Vector Smart VZDC | Zika, dengue, chikungunya | Tropical/subtropical regions, international deployments |
The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that vector-borne diseases cause over 700,000 deaths annually, accounting for more than 17% of all infectious diseases globally. U.S. Air Force units conduct trap-based mosquito collection during peak season, yet molecular pathogen confirmation has required off-base reference labs. A 2016 Office of the Secretary of Defense memorandum mandated vector surveillance across all installations in Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus habitat ranges, but on-site qPCR capacity was never part of that standard equipment package. Relocating molecular confirmation to the collection site removes the multi-day delay that undermines timely abatement response.
Vector-Borne Disease Testing at Scale Requires Verified Assay Controls
Vector-borne disease testing in deployed environments demands assays validated for mosquito pool matrix, not clinical sample types. Cross-species matrix effects suppress amplification efficiency and produce false negatives in pooled field samples. Vector Smart served 40 customers across 21 US states as of September 2026. The USAF deployment adds a federal procurement channel, requiring acquisition regulation compliance and coordination with installation preventive medicine officers. “We saw a significant unmet need for rapid, local mosquito surveillance that can provide public health officials with timely, actionable information, so we built a platform to address it,” explains Dwight Egan, CEO, Co-Diagnostics, Inc.
Procurement leads evaluating vector-borne disease testing platforms for microbiology and pathogen detection programs should verify three assay-level requirements before selection:
- Mosquito-Specific Positive Controls: Cross-species matrix effects suppress amplification efficiency in pooled samples; assays must include controls validated for mosquito pool inputs, not generic nucleic acid standards.
- Open-Platform Compatibility: Assays validated only on proprietary cyclers create vendor lock-in; labs should confirm compatibility with existing qPCR hardware before procuring reagents.
- Same-Day Result Capability: Abatement decisions depend on results within the collection day; labs need to verify if the assay-to-result workflow fits within a standard operational shift without batch hold requirements.
Dwight notes that “Vector Smart continues to demonstrate the versatility of our molecular diagnostics technology and the growing demand for decentralized surveillance solutions.” The USAF deployment confirms that field-deployable multiplex PCR has moved from specialty procurement to operational expectation for labs and distributors in the biology and life sciences testing sector.
Check out our method selection and workflow guidance for advanced molecular diagnostics and rapid clinical pathogen detection.
Sourcing In-House Mosquito PCR Testing: What DoD Installations and Abatement Districts Must Confirm
DoD installations and civilian mosquito abatement districts evaluating in-house qPCR programs should confirm access to a cycler compatible with open-format assay kits. DoD sites must also review applicable vector surveillance requirements and coordinate with installation preventive medicine officers. Any in-house PCR program must maintain documented SOPs, instrument calibration records, and positive-control run logs validated specifically for mosquito pool matrix. The Contract Laboratory directory has accredited pathogen detection labs that can help with external reference testing and validation support.
The original press release can be found here.
This article was created with the assistance of Generative AI and has undergone editorial review before publishing.