Neighbors help neighbors control urban mosquitoes

Brian J Johnson,Martha Wells,Andre F Bhandoola,Dina M Fonseca,Arlene Christiansen,Sharon Garrison,David Brosch,Amy Milne,Ed Wells

doi:10.1038/s41598-018-34161-9

Brian J Johnson, Martha Wells + Show 7 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-34161-9

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Abstract

The worldwide spread of invasive Aedes mosquitoes and arboviral disease, have renewed the pressure for effective and sustainable urban mosquito control. We report on the success of a model we are confident will usher in a new era of urban mosquito control. The key innovation is the mobilization of neighbors guided by scientific advisors, an approach we termed Citizen Action through Science (Citizen AcTS). This approach was tested in a NE US town of approximately 1,000 residential yards infested with the invasive Asian tiger mosquito, Aedes albopictus, a major nuisance arboviral vector. We report a highly significant reduction in biting pressure that was maintained over time, and establish the thresholds needed for success. The Citizen AcTS model rejects the top-down approach consistently associated with intervention failures. Instead, it works through respectful exchanges among scientists and residents that lead to trust and individual ‘buy-in’ and transferring program ownership to the community.

Highlights

The success of the Citizen AcTs model relies on community-wide organization, neighbor canvassing and engagement, and individual investment, or ‘buy-in’, to encourage active rather than passive citizen involvement in projects that directly benefit them
Previous bottom-up interventions have generally failed to prevent epidemic dengue, there have been successes in mosquito control[25,26] and, based on the results presented here, those willing to implement a mass-trapping intervention should consider adopting a similar model
We used Moran’s I and Average Nearest Neighbor analysis (ArcGIS 10.1) to measure the spatial autocorrelation of BGS trap locations and mean Ae. albopictus abundance per trap to determine if spatial correlation existed in the dataset

Summary

OPEN Neighbors help neighbors control urban mosquitoes

Community volunteers, which subsequently created the University Park Community Mosquito Control, were advised to consider a mass-trapping intervention targeting females ready to lay eggs (gravid), which are responsible for propagating the generation of biting adults. This recommendation was supported by a series of mass-trapping interventions by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Puerto Rico that resulted in long-term reduction (over 80%) in Aedes aegypti densities[12,13].

Aedes triseriatus Aedes japonicus

Every two weeks

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