David Larsen (PH) PI
Intramural Sponsored Project – 2018-2019 SU CUSE Grant – Innovation, $30,000
The Aedes aegypti mosquito is responsible for dengue, zika, chikungunya, and yellow fever, which affect more than 100 million people each year and cause economic damages of more than $50 million per annum. There are limited interventions available to control adult Ae. aegypti– prevention is typically managed through larviciding. Larviciding however is often ineffective because Ae. aegypti utilize hidden breeding sites that are missed during larviciding campaigns. This project will conduct experimental hut trials of dried attractive bait station (DABS) device to control Ae. aegypti. DABS utilizes visual cues to attract Ae. aegypti and then elicits an ingestion response wherein the mosquito ingests a stomach poison and dies. During laboratory studies the device killed 100 percent of female Ae. aegypti both before and after they had taken the blood meal, and up to at least 3 months following the manufacture of the device. The device can be manufactured for less than $5.00 and is simply hung on an interior wall of the household. Laboratory-raised Ae. aegypti mosquitos will be released into experimental huts with and without DABS, and escape, knockdown, and mortality will be measured in an ABBA design. These runs will be replicated with the presence of alternative feeding sources. The study will be conducted in Machala, Ecuador at an established dengue surveillance site with ongoing funding from the Department of Defense, the National Institute of Health and the National Science Foundation.