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Effective methods of controlling mosquito populations are needed to help reduce the global burden of mosquito-borne diseases, including Zika, chikungunya and dengue fever. Now the researchers reporting in PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases described a new statistical framework that can be used to evaluate mosquito control programs at large scales of time and space.
The Aedes aegypti mosquito is the main vector of many viruses and control efforts are under way to control many of the mosquito-borne badociated diseases. Until better vaccines become available, controlling transmission by reducing Ae. Aegypti populations remain the main tool available to fight the burden of disease. However, there is a lack of "best practices" to follow and a lack of rigorously collected quantitative data on Ae. aegypti control programs.
In the new work, Robert Reiner of the University of Washington, USA, and his colleagues devised a framework for modeling Ae. aegypti on space and time and applied it to an urban intervention carried out in Iquitos (Peru) over a period of 12 years. Interventions included several series of insecticide sprays over large urban areas. Data covering the years 1999 to 2010 were available on insecticide applications as well as on mosquito abundance, from 176,352 Ae at the household level. Aegypti abundance surveys carried out using hand vacuums.
The new model takes into account both the biotic and abiotic factors of the mosquito population and provides an estimate of what mosquito populations might look like if spraying had not been done. For the Iquitos data, the model successfully captured the spatial and temporal variations in Ae. aegypti abundance in and between the years and across the city. The researchers found that with complete coverage of the insecticide Ae. The abundance of aegypti decreased by an average of 67% in the treated area.
"Our framework can be directly translated into interventions on other sites with geolocated data on the abundance of mosquitoes," say the researchers. "The results of our badysis can be used to inform future vector control applications in Aegypti endemic areas globally."
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Quote: RC Reiner Jr, Stoddard ST, Vazquez-Prokopec General Manager, Astete H, Perkins TA and others. (2019) Estimated impact of Aedes aegypti population control at the scale of the city: observational study in Iquitos, Peru. PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases 13 (5): e0007255. https: /
Funding: The author or authors have not received any specific funding for this work.
Competing interests: The authors stated that there was no conflict of interest.
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