1. Introduction:

The study is funded by the Global Emerging Infections Surveillance and Response Branch (GEIS) of the Armed Forces Health Surveillance Division (AFHSD) Intramural Funding.

This Performance Work Statement (PWS) defines the requirements to be performed by the contractor for conducting the Study entitled “Vector-borne disease surveillance in Northern and Pacific coast of Colombia”. The country where the activities will be carried out in the States of Chocó and Antioquia Colombia.

2. Background:

Vector-borne diseases are a major health problem worldwide having a significant impact in military forces and civilian populations in endemic regions. Effective prevention and control of vector-borne diseases requires effective surveillance strategies that account for the human, reservoir and vector in order to efficiently estimate risk in endemic regions.

Moreover, there is limited information on vector-borne disease burden in DoD personnel in regions with a known elevated risk. The overall objective of NAMRU-6 surveillance activities is to conduct surveillance of arthropod vector of pathogens of military importance across SOUTHCOM to better understand the full transmission cycle and provide robust Febrile and Vector Borne Infections (FVBI) risk assessments. Accomplishing this activity requires in-depth surveillance and on-site expertise in endemic sites to ensure accurate and reliable information to generate arthropod vector geographical distribution data and identify vector-borne pathogens.

Colombia is a key SOUTHCOM strategic partner country in South America. It is an endemic region for tropical infectious diseases such as malaria, leishmaniasis, dengue, zika and re-emerging or emerging pathogens. The vector to human transmission mechanisms for some of these pathogens remains to be identified in highly endemic areas.

Establishing vector-borne disease surveillance by NAMRU-6 in Colombia requires the services of a research institution that can collect appropriate samples from human subjects and entomological vectors and conduct laboratory experiments for pathogen detection on these specimens. Additionally, the institution must have the ability to identify mosquito, ticks, triatomines and sand fly specimens. In this regard, this project will allow the execution of plasmodium and trypanosomatids surveillance activities in Colombia to generate actionable data that can be used for the benefit of the war-fighter.

3. General Requirements:

The requirement is for a one-12 month base period of performance from 30 September 2023 to 29 September 2024, with two optional 12-month option periods.

The contractor shall provide services including (but not limited to) project management, collection and identification of human and entomological samples. In addition, the contractor shall provide malaria disease incidence data available from direct sources such as active human subject studies or indirectly from local health authorities to correlate with vector densities and species composition.

The study sites will be located in:

Colombia:

• Antioquia State

• Choco State

• Other sites as requested by NAMRU-6.

Monitoring activities will be conducted by NAMRU-6 via monthly conference calls and two monitoring visits to selected field sites during the contract period. Monthly, short reports are expected during the conduction of the study.

4. Performance Requirements:

Staffing: The Government’s estimated staffing level to accomplish the tasks outlined in this PWS, for each 12-month performance period, is provided below. The Offeror is encouraged to propose a labor mix and level of effort based on their technical approach.

The contractor shall provide general classes of services including (but not limited to) project management, provision of clinical and entomological samples, laboratory testing, shipment of samples, data analysis and reporting.

Laboratory molecular testing shall be performed by the contractor in response to NAMRU-6 requirements. In addition, the contractor shall provide demographic, clinical and laboratory test results to NAMRU-6.

Monitoring activities will be conducted by NAMRU-6 and periodical monitoring visits and reports will be coordinated. Frequent communications such as monthly teleconferences are expected during the conduction of the study.

Where required, the contractor shall follow all provisions of the human use protocol approved by the NAMRU-6 Institutional Review Board (protocol NAMRU6.2020.0006) and/or other IRB or non-human subject studies (protocol NAMRU6.2018.0002).

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