Integrated strategies for Aedes aegypti control applied to individual houses: An approach to mitigate vectorial arbovirus transmission

• Published in: Tropical medicine and infectious disease Vol. 9; no. 3; pp. 1 - 18
• Main Authors: Melo, Danielle Cristina Tenório Varjal de, Santos, Eloína Maria de Mendonça, Xavier, Morgana Nascimento, Nascimento, Josimara do, Barbosa, Victor Araújo, Oliveira, André Luiz de Sá, Meiado, Marcos Vinícius, Melo-Santos, Maria Alice Varjal de, Paiva, Marcelo Henrique Santos, Wallau, Gabriel da Luz, Oliveira, Cláudia Maria Fontes de
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel, Switzerland MDPI 24-02-2024; MDPI AG
• Subjects: Adults; Arbovirus infections; Control; Coronaviruses; Dengue fever; Ecology; Eggs; Epidemics; Guillain-Barre syndrome; Infections; Insect control; integrated vector management; Methodology; mosquito burden mitigation; Mosquitoes; Neighborhoods; one health; Pathogens; surveillance program; Transmission; Tropical diseases; viral surveillance; West Nile virus; Zika virus; Brazil; viral surveillance; mosquito burden mitigation; integrated vector management; surveillance program; one health
• ISSN: 2414-6366; 2414-6366
• DOI: 10.3390/tropicalmed9030053

'Aedes aegypti' and 'Culex quinquefasciatus' mosquitoes are vectors of different arboviruses that cause a large burden of disease in humans worldwide. A key step towards reducing the impact of arboviruses on humans can be achieved through integrated mosquito surveillance and control approaches. We carried out an integrated approach of mosquito surveillance and control actions to reduce populations of these insects along with a viral surveillance in a neighborhood of Recife (Northeastern Brazil) with high mosquito densities and arbovirus transmission. The actions were carried out in 40 different houses in the Nova Descoberta neighborhood. The area was divided into two groups, the control group using tools to monitor the mosquito density (1 OVT; 1 Double BR-ovt; monthly capture of alates) and the experimental group with control actions using surveillance tools in an intensified way (2 OVTs; 2 Double BR-ovts; fortnightly capture of alates; toxic baits). We evaluated the study's impact on the mosquito density via the Egg Density (ED) and Adult Density (AD) over a period of 12 cycles of 28 days each. The collected adult mosquitoes were processed via RT-qPCR for DENV, CHIKV and ZIKV and, subsequently, the Minimum Infection Rate (MIR) was calculated. After 12 cycles, we observed a 91% and 99% reduction in Aedes ED and AD in the monitored properties, as well as a 76% reduction in the AD of Cx. quinquefasciatus in the same properties. Moreover, we detected circuLating arboviruses (DENV and ZIKV) in 19.52% of captured adult mosquitoes. We show that enhancing entomological surveillance tools can aid in the early detection of possible risk areas based on vector mosquito population numbers. Additionally, the detection of important arboviruses such as ZIKV and DENV raises awareness and allows for a better selection of risk areas and silent virus spread. It offers supplementary information for guiding emergency mosquito control measures in the target area. The goal is to minimize human-vector interactions and, subsequently, to lower the risk of transmitting circulating arboviruses.