Abstract
The Sterile Insect Technique (SIT), used to control insect populations, consists of releasing males sterilized by ionizing radiations. Wild females that mate with these males can no longer produce viable offspring, which may drives the population decline. Although this method has proved its efficiency, its effect may be more limited for fast-reproducing large-population species, such Aedes albopictus. A novel approach, named ”boosted SIT” has been designed to strengthen the SIT technique: It consists of coating sterile males with a biocide that will be transferred to the mated females, which will then contaminate the oviposition sites. This study is aimed at exploring demographic effects of both techniques (SIT and boosted SIT) through their inclusion in a weather-driven abundance model of the Aedes albopictus population dynamics in the geographical context of La Reunion Island. Sensitivity analysis showed that the date to start the release, as well as the quantity of sterile males released and their competitiveness, are of key importance for both control methods. According to our results, boosted SIT allows 1) Increasing the effectiveness of the SIT when the sterile males released are of medium quality in terms of competitiveness, and 2) extending the optimal window to start the control period.
Highlights
Vector-borne diseases account for about 17% of the estimated global burden of infectious diseases and are responsible for more than 700,000 deaths every year (World Health Organization and UNICEF, 2017)
While our study focused on sterile males release techniques, Pleydell and Bouyer (2019) studied, for example, the effects of Sterile Insect Technique (SIT) and boosted SIT coupled with the disposition in the environment of artificial oviposition sites contaminated with pyriproxyfen
The control of Ae albopictus based on sterile males release techniques in La Reunion Island was modelled for the first time with a weather-driven model validated by entomological field data
Summary
Vector-borne diseases account for about 17% of the estimated global burden of infectious diseases and are responsible for more than 700,000 deaths every year (World Health Organization and UNICEF, 2017). The number of dengue infections is estimated at 390 millions every year, of which 96 million induce clinical symptoms (of various severities) (Bhatt et al, 2013). Dengue virus is transmitted by mosquitoes of the genus Aedes, in particular Ae. albopictus and Ae. aegypti. These species are vectors of other arboviruses, including Zika and Chikungunya. No disease-specific treatment for these arboviruses exists (Caglioti et al, 2013). In this context, mosquito control remains the cornerstone of disease prevention
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