tI2 Jounuu oF THE AvsRrcan Moseuno Cournol Assocrnrron VoL. 8, No. 1

Medical Inspector, Camp Davis, NC. Whilethere, Harold learned about DDT (then classi-fied) and drafted a project calling for its inves-tigation and presented it to Oliver McCoy in theSurgeon General's Office. Although nothingcame of the plan, May-June 1944 saw Haroldcompleting a course in Military and TropicalMedicine at Walter Reed Army Medical Center,Washington, DC, following which, at McCoy'srequest, he was assignedto the Gorgas MemorialLaboratory, Panama, for work on an O.S,R.D.contract to study the effectiveness of DDT re-sidual spraying in the control of malaria. Theupshot of the ensuing investigations representedthe first use of this very promising insecticidein Latin America. It was not long before Trapidorealized that not enough was known regardingthe adult habits of certain important anophe-lines and thus initiated studies of the naturalbehavior of mosquitoes (all stages), which sub-sequently became one of his primary researchinterests. Harold was honorably discharged fromthe Service in August 1946, grade Captain; heremained, however, in the Medical Service Re-serve Corps as Major until 1960.

For 10 years (1946-56) Harold was employedas Biologist by the Gorgas Memorial Labora-tory, whose Director initially (1929) was HerbertClark, followed by Carl Johnson in July 1954.During this period, his publications can be di-vided into 3 groups as follows: (1) malaria andits control-11 papers including his classicalstudies of DDT residual spraying and its result-ant effect on Anaphclcs ohirnonus behavior, aswell as a scholarly 22 page treatise in "The

Sardinian Project" on the concept of attemptingeradication of an indigenous species; (2) yellowfever and diurnal forest mosquitoes-l8 papersmainly with Pedro Galindo and Stanley Carpen-ter involving 6 years of arboreal mosquito stud-ies, virus transmission experiments and epide-miological surveys of the 1948-54 Middle Amer-ican YF outbreak. Included here is an important39 page parasitological review by Trapido andGalindo "The Epidemiology of Yellow Fever inMiddle America"; and (3) miscellaneous sub-jects-ll papers of a zoological nature concern-ing bats, capybaras, frogs (including descrip-tions of 2 new species) and a survey of WestIndian phlebotomine sandflies with G. B. Fair-child.

In the early 1950s Harold was invited by theRockefeller Foundation (RF) to act as consult-ant to its Sardinian malaria project, where hespent 2 summers (1950, 1952) studying the ecol-ogf, of native anophelines and equating his frnd-ings with the problems and progress ofthe erad-ication effort. It was during this time that thewriter and Harold strengthened their friendship.In October 1953 Trapido married Jean Litch-

man, a native of Seattle, WA, after which thenewlyweds returned to Panama where Haroldcontinued his YF investigations with Galindofor another 2L/z yearc.

By 1956, however, Harold was considering amore permanent relationship with the RF. Hewas appointed a Staff Member (Biological andMedical Research) effective August lst and Oc-tober saw the couple, now with a 6-month oldson in Poona (now Pune), India where Haroldhad been assigned as Deputy Director, The Vi-rus Research Centre, Five months later, Haroldfound himself with Centre Director TelfordWork completely immersed in the critical inves-tigation of an alarming outbreak of mortal sick-ness affecting humans and monkeys in theKyasanur Forest of Mysore state. Having re-cently retired from 6-years observing sylvaticYF in Middle America, Harold could not avoidthoughts that YF had finally invaded the Asiaticcontinent. Fortunately this proved not to be thecase, nevertheless Poona laboratory personnelwere precipitated into an all-out investigationof a hitherto unknown and deadly viral infec-tion, Kyasanur Forest Disease. Transmitted byticks, about which little was known in India,Harold was soon involved with Poona colleagues(Varma, Rajagopalan, Rebello, Goverdhan andSingh) in a 6-year study of tick taxonomy, ecol-ogy and distribution as well as capability totransmit virus; Harry Hoogstraal and GlenKohls were also deeply involved in the taxo-nomic studies which subsequently spilled overinto Southeast Asia. Some 20 or more publica-tions resulted from these investigations.

Again in May 1960 Harold was confrontedwith another calamity, a dangerous horse sick-ness of uncertain cause afflicting the 61st Cav-alry Unit, Jaipur, Rajasthan state. With Poonacolleague, Keerti Shah, an immediate meetingwith high ranking army officials in New Delhifollowed by inquiries in Jaipur resulted in thefirst recognition of African Horse Sickness inIndia-Culicoides transmitted. Prompt controlmeasures (fine-mesh screening of horse stalls,repellants, smoke smudges) and virus investi-gations were instituted, but not before 36 of 323highly esteemed horses succumbed. Harold wasmentioned in dispatches. Subsequently the dis-ease harassed 12 states, resulting in a mortalitysurpassing 16,000 horses.

Following an intersession study leave at theBureau of Animal Population, Oxford Univer-sity (1962-64) where much of the tedious mu-seum/library tick studies took place and wherehe enjoyed a close relationship with bureau di-rector Charles Elton. Harold returned to theStates and on December 16. 1964 received ordersfor his new assignment to the Universidad delValle, Cali, Colombia. There, at the RF's arbo-

MencH 1992 OBITUARY 113

virus laboratory in the Department of Microbi-ology, Harold was principally associated overthe ensuing 5r/z yearc with Carlos San Martinand entomologist Pablo Barreto. Within 2 yearsof his arrival, Harold and colleagues were com-pletely wrapped up in the investigation of aserious outbreak of Venezuelan equine enceph-alomyelitis which eventually affected some 50-100,000 equines and well over 200,000 humans.While mosquitoes were the principal vectors, itis worthy of note that simuliid gnats (black flies)were implicated for the first time as importantvirus vectors in mountainous areas. Other sig-nificant work concerned the discovery of Pi-chinde, a new member of the deadly arena virusgroup, which includes Lassa and Bolivian hem-orrhagic fever. Pichinde virus is found in highmountain rodents and might possibly be trans-mitted by hematophagous ticks and mites.

Harold likewise became interested in the dis-covery of onchocerciasis in Colombia. He uti-Iized his research and inquisitorial skills to de-velop an ingenious theory relating the presenceof the helminths in Colombia to the importationofAfrican slaves. Searchingin the ancient Span-ish archives of Popay6n, Harold unearthed thenames of slaves working in the Western Cordil-lera and was able to relate some of said namesto particular tribal areas of West Africa whereonchocerciasis is endemic. These slaves, whosenames were critical to the sleuthing, were forcedto work recovering gold at points where rapidlyflowing streams (a source of immature simuliids)debouched onto the western coastal plain anddropped their loads of auriferous sand andgravel. The essay reflects the meticulousnessobeerved by Harold in all his endeavors: clearpresentation of the problem; accurate documen-tation of any historical aspects ofthe study, nomatter how difficult to achieve; and carefulthought taken to relate significant ecologicaland environmental characteristics to the evalu-ation or solution of the undertaking.

Trapido terminated his association with theRF August 31, 1970 to accept a professorshipand eventually head of the Department of Trop-ical Medicine and Medical Parasitology at theLouisiana State University School of Medicinein New Orleans, which post he held until retire-ment in 1984. At various times he was a memberof many scientific societies both here andabroad, served with WHO expert panels on ma-laria and viruses, editorial and advisory boardsand, in later years, was chairman of the NewOrleans Mosquito Control Board, as well as amember of the Mayor's Advisory Committee ondengue.

He is survived by his wife Jean, a son, PaulTrapido of Bethesda, MD, and a brother, JoelTrapido of Hawaii.

REFERENCES CITED

1. Trapido, H. 1937. A guide to the snakes of NewJersey. Newark Museum: 1-60, 52 figs.

2. Trapido, H. 1939. Parturition in the timber rattle-snake, Crotalus horridus hotidus Linne. Cop-eia, no. 4:230.

3. Trapido, H. 1944. The snakes of the genus Storeria.Am. Midl. Nat.31:1-84.

4. Trapido, H. 1946. The residual spraying of dwell-ings with DDT in the control of malaria trans-mission in Panama, with special reference toAnopheles ahimanus. Am. J. Trop. Med. 26:383-4t5.

5. Trapido, H. 1947. The effectiveness of DDT resid-ual house spraying againstAnopheles ahimanw.Science 105:432.

6. Trapido, H. 1948. The development of a sprayerfor use with water suspensions of DDT in ruralareas of Latin America. Am. J. Trop. Med.28:72L-739.

?. Trapido, H. 1949. Gestation period, young, andmaximum weight of the Isthmian Capybara,Hydrocoerus isthmius Goldman. J. Mammal.30:433.

8. Galindo, P., H. Trapido and S. J. Carpenter. 1950.Observations on diurnal forest mosquitoes inrelation to sylvan yellow fever in Panama. Am.J. Trop. Med. 30:533-574.

9. Fairchild, G. B. and H. Trapido. 1950. The WestIndian species of Phlnbotomus. Ann. Entomol.Soc. Am. 43:405-417.

10. Galindo, P., S. J. Carpenter and H. Trapido. 1951.Ecological observations on forest mosquitoes ofan endemic yellow fever area in Panama. Am.J. Trop. Med. 31:98-137.

11. Trapido, H. 1951. The toxicity of DDT to Anoph-eles clnuiger (Meigen) in Sardinia and on theItalian mainland. J. Nat. Malaria Soc. 10:266-271.

12. Trapido, H. 1951. Factors influencing the searchfor anopheline larvae in Sardinia. J. Nat. Ma-laria Soc. l0:318-326.

13. Trapido, H. 1952. Modified response of Anoph.elesahimanus to DDT residual house spraying inPanama. Am. J. Trop. Med. Hyg. 1:853-861.

14. Wimsatt, W. A. and H. Trapido. 1952. Reproduc-tion and female reproductive cycle in the tropi-cal American vampire bat, Desmodus rotundturnurintts. Am. J. Anat. 9l:415-446.

15. Trapido, H. and T. H. G. Aitken. 1953. Study of aresidual population of Atnphzl.es l. labranchiaeFalleroni in the Geremeas Valley, Sardinia. Am.J. Trop. Med. Hyg. 2:658-676.

16. Trapido, H. 1953. Biological considerations (af-fecting the project for the eradication of thepopulation of Arwpheles l. lnbranrhiae in Sardi-nia). The Sardinian Project. Am. J. Hyg.Monog. Ser. 20:353-374.

17. Trapido, H. and T. H. G. Aitken. 1953. Changesof anopheline fauna and intraspecies changesfollowing the application of modern insecticides.Communication of Sec. Expert Comm. Malaria,Wld. Hlth. Org., 18 May'53. (WHO/Mal/87),mimeographed.

18. Trapido, H. 1954. Recent experiments on possiblereeistance to DDT bv Anopheles albimanus in

JoURNAL oF THE AMERrce.t Mosqurro Cotrnor, Assocrerrox VoL.8 , No. 1

Panama. Bull. W.H.O. 11:885-889.19. Trapido, H. and P. Galindo. 1956. The epidemiol-

ogy of yellow fever in Middle America. Exp.Parasitol. 5:235-323.

20. Trapido, H. and P. Galindo. 19b6. Genus Haema-gogus in the United States. Science. 123:634.

21. Galindo, P., E. C. de Rodaniche and H. Trapido.1956. Experimental transmission of vellow leverby Central American species of Haemagogu.s ancSabethes chloropterus. Am. J. Trop. Mea. Hyg.5:1022-1031.

22. Galindo, P., H. Trapido, S. J. Carpenter and F. S.Blanton. 1956. The abundance cycles ofarborealmosquitoes during six years at a sylvan yellowfever locality in Panama. Ann. Entomol. Soc.Am. 49:543-547.

23. Work, T. and H. Trapido. 1gb?. Kyasanur forestdisease. A new virus disease in India. Summarvof preliminary report of investigations of theVirus Research Centre on an epidemic diseaseaffecting forest villagers and wild monkevs ofShimoga District, Mysore. Indian J. Med. Sci.7l:341-342.

24. Work, T., H. Trapido, D. P. Narasimha Murthv.R. Laxman Rao, P. N. Bhatt and K. G. Kui-karni. 1957. Kyasanur forest disease, III. A pre-liminary report on the nature of the infeciionand clinical manifestations in human beinss.Indian J. Med. Sci. 1l:619-64b.

25. Trapido, H., P. K. Rajagopalan, T. Work and M.G. R. Varma. 1959. Kyasanur forest disease.VIII. Isolation of Kyasanur forest disease virusfrom naturally infected ticks of the genus Hae-maphysalis.Indian J. Med. Res. 4?:133-138.

26. Trapido, H,, H. Hoogstraal and M. G. R. Varma.1963. Redescription ofthe holotype and descrip-tion of all stages of Hacmaplrysalis tarfuns Nut-tall and Warburton from Ceylon and India (Ixo-doidea, Ixodidae). J. Parasitol. 49:6?8-68b.

27. Trapido, H., M. K. Goverdhan, P. K. Rajagopalanand M. J. Rebello. 1964. Ticks ectoparasitic onmonkeys in the Kyasanur forest dislase area ofShimoga District, Mysore State, India. Am. J.Trop. Med. Hyg. t3:763-772.

28. Trapido, H., M. G. R. Varma, P. K. Rajagopalan,K. R. P. Singh and M. J. Rebello. 1964. A guideto the identification of all stases of the Haema-

physalis ticks of South India. BulI. Entomol.Res. 55:249-2?0.

29. Trapido, H. 1965. Notes on critical Asian Haema-physolls specimens in European museum collec-tions, with designations of lectotypes and a neo-type (Acarina: Ixodidae). Proc. Entomol. Soc.Wash. 67:152-165.

30. Hoogstraal, H., H. Trapido and G. M. Kohls. 1966.Studies on southeast Asian Haetnaphysalrs ticks(Ixodoidea, Ixodidae). Speciation in the IL(kaiseriana) obeso group: H. semerrnis Neu-mann, 1L o6esa Larrousse, H. roubaudi Tou-manoff, H. montgomeryi Nuttall, and H. hirsutasp. n. J. Parasitol. 52:169-191.

31. Barreto, P., H. Trapido and V. H. Lee. t9?0.Onchocerciasis in Colombia. Entomologicalfindings in the first observed focus. Am. J. Trop.Med. Hyg. 19:83?-841.

32. Trapido, H., A. D'Alessandro and M. D. Little.1970. Onchocerciasis in Colombia. Historicalbackground and ecological observations. Am. J.Trop. Med. Hyg. 20:104-108.

33. San Martin, C., H. Trapido, P. Barreto and C.Lesmes. 1971. Isolations of Venezuelan andeastern equine encephalomyelitis viruses fromsentinel hamsters exposed in the Pacific low-lands of Colombia. Am. J. Trop. Med. Hyg.20:469-473.

34. Trapido, H. and C. San Martin. 1921. Pichindevirus. A new virus of the Tacaribe group fromColombia. Am. J. Trop. Med. Hyg. 20:631-641.

35. San Martin, C., R. B. Mackenzie, H. Trapido, p.Bareto, C. H. Mullenax. E. Gutierr6z and C.Lesmes. 1973. Encefalitis equina Venezolana enColombia, 1967. Bol. Of. Sanit. Panam.64:108-l D t .

36. Trapido, H. and G. T. Carmichael. 1924. Reap-pearance of Aedes aegypti in New Orleans, Lou-isiana. Dengue Newsletter for Americas. PanAm. Health Org. 3:7.

Thomas H. G. AitkenDepartment of Epidemiology and Public HealthYale University School of MedicineP.O. Box 3333New Haven, CT 06510