Abstract
BackgroundTraps baited with synthetic human odors have been proposed as suitable technologies for controlling malaria and other mosquito-borne diseases. We investigated the potential benefits of such traps for preventing malaria transmission in Africa and the essential characteristics that they should possess so as to be effective.Methods and Principal FindingsAn existing mathematical model was reformulated to distinguish availability of hosts for attack by mosquitoes from availability of blood per se. This adaptation allowed the effects of pseudo-hosts such as odor-baited mosquito traps, which do not yield blood but which can nonetheless be attacked by the mosquitoes, to be simulated considering communities consisting of users and non-users of insecticide-treated nets (ITNs), currently the primary malaria prevention method. We determined that malaria transmission declines as trap coverage (proportion of total availability of all hosts and pseudo hosts that traps constitute) increases. If the traps are more attractive than humans and are located in areas where mosquitoes are most abundant, 20–130 traps per 1000 people would be sufficient to match the impact of 50% community-wide ITN coverage. If such traps are used to complement ITNs, malaria transmission can be reduced by 99% or more in most scenarios representative of Africa. However, to match cost-effectiveness of ITNs, the traps delivery, operation and maintenance would have to cost a maximum of US$4.25 to 27.61 per unit per year.Conclusions and SignificanceOdor-baited mosquito traps might potentially be effective and affordable tools for malaria control in Africa, particularly if they are used to complement, rather than replace, existing methods. We recommend that developers should focus on super-attractive baits and cheaper traps to enhance cost-effectiveness, and that the most appropriate way to deploy such technologies is through vertical delivery mechanisms.
Highlights
The interactions between mosquitoes and humans are central to the transmission of human malaria and other mosquito borne pathogens
These simulations indicate that if the traps are baited with long range attractants that are at least four times as attractive to malaria mosquitoes as humans [41], and if they are located in areas where 80% of all mosquitoes are found [63], the traps on their own can confer community-wide protection equivalent to 50% coverage with Insecticide-treated nets (ITNs)
This is expected to occur more readily if the traps are used as complementary intervention alongside ITNs but is plausible if they are deployed as stand-alone vector control methods, especially in places where the primary vector is the anthropophagic An. gambiae s.s. (Fig. 3A and C)
Summary
The interactions between mosquitoes and humans are central to the transmission of human malaria and other mosquito borne pathogens. From a public health point of view, the primary motive for investigating these issues lies in the potential to create new mosquito surveillance and abatement technologies While their applications in public health are still limited, odorbaited technologies are widely exploited in the agricultural sector where pest control is generally more advanced than is the case for vectors of human diseases [10]. Perhaps the most convincing examples of what may be possible by introducing lethal traps or targets is provided by the most successful existing methods of malaria control today: Insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) [28,29] and the application of indoor-residual sprays (IRS) to houses [30,31] Both methods essentially turn existing blood resources (people) and associated resting site resources (human dwellings) into lethal mosquito traps. We investigated the potential benefits of such traps for preventing malaria transmission in Africa and the essential characteristics that they should possess so as to be effective
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