Disinsection

• Disinsection is permitted under international law in order to protect public health, agriculture and the environment. The World Health Organization and the International Civil Aviation Organization stipulate two approaches for aircraft disinsection--
1. Spraying — spray the aircraft cabin, with an aerosolized insecticide, while passengers are on board or
2. Residual — treat the aircraft's interior surfaces with a residual insecticide (residual method) while passengers are not on board.
• Panama and American Samoa have adopted a third method, in which aircraft are sprayed with an aerosolized insecticide while passengers are not on board.
• Although the Report of the Informal Consultation on Aircraft Disinsection sponsored by the World Health Organization (November 6-10, 1995) concluded that aircraft disinsection, if performed appropriately, would not present a risk to human health, the report also noted that some individuals may experience transient discomfort following aircraft disinsection by aerosol application.
• Although relatively few countries now require that aircraft be disinsected, most countries reserve the right to do so, and, as such, could impose a disinsection requirement should they perceive a threat to their public health, agriculture or environment. Accordingly, travelers are advised to check with their travel agent or airline reservations agent when booking flights or if they have questions about their final destination’s policy. Listed below are representatives of airlines who are knowledgeable on disinsection requirements.
• Countries requiring the disinsection of all in-bound flights but allowing, as an alternative to the above approach, either (a) the residual method or (b) the application of an aerosolized spray while passengers are not on board.
• Australia, Residual
• Barbados, Residual
• Cook Islands, Residual
• Fiji, Residual
• Jamaica, Residual
• New Zealand, Residual
• Panama, Spraying
• Countries that require disinsection of selected flights:
• Czech Republic, Areas of contagious diseases
• France, Areas of malaria, yellow fever and dengue fever
• Indonesia, Infected areas
• Mauritius, Generally, flights coming from African continent, Asia and sub regions, the Middle East and islands of the Indian Ocean, and flights coming from any other country where mosquito borne diseases are prevalent.
• South Africa, Areas of malaria or yellow fever
• Switzerland, Intertropical Africa
• United Kingdom, Malarial countries and countries with confirmed transmission of Zika

Source: Transportation.gov Aircraft Disinsection Requirements

Disinsection. The procedure whereby health measures are taken to control or kill insects present in aircraft, baggage, cargo, containers, goods and mail.

Source: ICAO Annex 9, Ch. 1, Definitions

2.23 Contracting States shall limit any routine requirement for the disinsection of aircraft cabins and flight decks with an aerosol while passengers and crews are on board, to same-aircraft operations originating in, or operating via, territories that they consider to pose a threat to their public health, agriculture or environment.

2.24 Contracting States that require disinsection of aircraft shall periodically review their requirements and modify them, as appropriate, in the light of all available evidence relating to the transmission of insects to their respective territories via aircraft.

2.25 When disinsection is required a Contracting State shall authorize or accept only those methods, whether chemical or non-chemical, and/or insecticides, which are recommended by the World Health Organization and are considered efficacious by the Contracting State.

Note.— This provision does not preclude the trial and testing of other methods for ultimate approval by the World Health Organization.

2.26 Contracting States shall ensure that their procedures for disinsection are not injurious to the health of passengers and crew and cause the minimum of discomfort to them.

2.27 Contracting States shall, upon request, provide to aircraft operators appropriate information, in plain language, for air crew and passengers, explaining the pertinent national regulation, the reasons for the requirement, and the safety of properly performed aircraft disinsection.

2.28 When disinsection has been performed in accordance with procedures recommended by the World Health Organization, the Contracting State concerned shall accept a pertinent certification on the General Declaration as provided for in Appendix 1 or, in the case of residual disinsection, the Certificate of Residual Disinsection set forth in Appendix 4.

2.29 When disinsection has been properly performed pursuant to 2.25 and a certificate as indicated in 2.28 is presented or made available to the public authorities in the country of arrival, the authorities shall normally accept that certificate and permit passengers and crew to disembark immediately from the aircraft.

2.30 Contracting States shall ensure that any insecticide or any other substance used for disinsection does not have a deleterious effect on the structure of the aircraft or its operating equipment. Flammable chemical compounds or solutions likely to damage aircraft structure, such as by corrosion, shall not be employed.

Source: ICAO Annex 9, Ch. 2, §D

• Many countries require disinsection of aircraft (to kill insects) arriving from countries where diseases that are spread by insects, such as malaria and yellow fever, occur. There have been a number of cases of malaria affecting individuals who live or work in the vicinity of airports in countries where malaria is not present, thought to be due to the escape of malaria-carrying mosquitoes transported on aircraft. Some countries, e.g. Australia and New Zealand, routinely carry out disinsection to prevent the inadvertent introduction of species that may harm their agriculture.
• Disinsection is a public health measure that is mandated by the International Health Regulations (Annex 2). It involves treatment of the interior of the aircraft with insecticides specified by WHO. The different procedures currently in use are as follows:
• treatment of the interior of the aircraft using a quick-acting insecticide spray immediately before take-off, with the passengers on board;
• treatment of the interior of the aircraft on the ground before passengers come on board, using a residual-insecticide aerosol, plus additional in-flight treatment with a quick-acting spray shortly before landing;
• regular application of a residual insecticide to all internal surfaces of the aircraft, except those in food preparation areas.
• Passengers are sometimes concerned about their exposure to insecticide sprays during air travel, and some have reported feeling unwell after spraying of aircraft for disinsection. However, WHO has found no evidence that the specified insecticide sprays are harmful to human health when used as recommended.

Source: World Health Organization

• Pre-flight

A pre-flight aerosol containing an insecticide with rapid action and limited residual action is applied by ground staff to the flight deck, passenger cabin including toilet areas, open overhead and side-wall lockers, coat lockers and crew rest areas. The spray is applied before the passengers board the aircraft but not more than 1 h before the doors are closed. A 2% permethrin cis:trans (25:75) formulation is currently recommended for this application, at a target dose of 0.7 g a.i./100 m3. This requires application at 35 g of formulation per 100 m3 to various types of aircraft, with a droplet size of 10–15 μm. Preflight spraying is followed by a further in-flight spray, i.e. top-of-descent as the aircraft starts its descent to the arrival airport.

• Blocks away

Spraying is carried out by crew members when the passengers are on board, after closure of the cabin door and before the flight takes off. An aerosol containing an insecticide for rapid action is used. The air-conditioning system should be switched off during cabin spraying. The flight deck is sprayed before the pilot boards (when no passengers are on board). The doors of overhead luggage racks should be closed only after spraying has been completed. An aerosol containing 2% D-phenothrin is currently recommended by WHO and should be applied at a rate of 35 g of formulation per 100 m3 (i.e. 0.7 g a.i./100 m3). Cargo holds should also be disinsected.

• Top-of-descent

Top-of-descent spraying is carried out as the aircraft starts its descent to the arrival airport. An aerosol containing 2% D-phenothrin is currently recommended by WHO for this purpose and is applied with the air recirculation system set at from high to normal flow. The amounts applied are based on a standard spray rate of 1 g/s and 35 g of the formulation per 100 m3 (i.e. 0.7 g a.i./100 m3).

• Residual

The internal surfaces of the passenger cabin and cargo hold, excluding food preparation areas, are sprayed with a compression sprayer that has a constant flow valve and flat fan nozzle according to WHO specifications. Permethrin 25:75 (cis:trans) emulsifiable concentrate is currently recommended by WHO at a target dose of 0.2 g/m2 applied at intervals not exceeding 2 months. The emulsion is applied at 10 ml/m2 to avoid run off. Residual sprays are applied by professional pest control operators and are intended for long-term residual activity on aircraft interior surfaces. In electrically sensitive areas, it may be necessary to use an aerosol instead of a compression sprayer. After treatment is completed, air-conditioning packs should be run for at least 1 h before the crew and passengers embark to clear the air of the volatile components of the spray. Areas that undergo substantial cleaning between treatments require supplementary ‘touch-up’ spraying.

Source: World Health Organization

Dear Code 7700,

I see you have some new info on disinsection in your “updates”. I can provide some first-hand knowledge into the requirements in Italy, as I was disinsected twice this month at Ciampino. We were required to provide a certificate with “our airport’s medical officer’s WHO stamp”. Huh? We elected to have it done on arrival at LIRA, and it wasn’t a big deal. Passengers were offloaded, we removed our bags, cleaned up the airplane (G550) and waited for the sprayer. It was done with a pump sprayer of the type you’d spray your fruit trees. He was very careful, sprayed just on the carpet, wiped up any overspray, and stayed out of the cockpit area. The airplane had to be then closed for 1.5 hours, but we just closed it up and went to the hotel. Three days later we opened up the door to start our departure day, and it really didn’t seem to have much odor, and any that lingered was quickly dispersed with the open MED and baggage door. It is recommended to run the A/C packs for at least 30 minutes before closing up for departure. Total cost was 569.80 Euros, including the certificate, which is good for 8 weeks.

Steven

March 2016

Dear Code 7700,

We had a recent trip into Milan, Italy – LIML. Here’s what we experienced concerning the “Residual Disinsection” requirement.

In Geneva, after the pax left and we were ready to leave for the hotel (one RON), two men came to do the spraying. Actually, one held a clipboard outside, while the other donned a white jump suit and began to spray the cabin and baggage compartment with a small aerosol can of “FLYMED AIRCRAFT”. Then the aircraft was closed up and we departed. I believe the plane must stay closed up for one hour. I asked for a certificate of the spraying, but I was informed that it would have to be sent to our home operations. The certificate arrived about 10 days later. The fee was billed through our handling agent, Universal. That charge was about $400 US.

Get this: All aircraft coming from ANY country must be sprayed or have been sprayed within the last 8 weeks. This includes Italy. Thus, if you’re up in Rome and were OK at that time, but them fly to Milan and your eight weeks has expired, you must get sprayed again. I have no idea what would be the protocol if after landing in Milan, we then went to Rome and had no certificate.

BTW, we removed all food items, even packaged goods such as peanuts, etc.

Upon departure day, we opened the aircraft (it had been about 18 hours shut up) and the smell of the insecticide was very strong. It caused me to cough a lot. The aircraft must be aired out for at least 30 minutes, but I’d recommend one hour.

Name withheld by request

October 2016