Emerging Technologies for Urban Mosquito Management - Urban Insect Pests: Sustainable Management Strategies - page 26

the treated curtains. Insecticide-treated cur-
tains are also effective in reducing malaria
transmission. Diallo et al. (2004) reported a
reduction of 19-24% in child mortality
with the use of these curtains over a 6-year
period in an area of Burkino Faso with
seasonal Plasmodium falciparum malaria
transmission.
In addition insecticide-treated fabrics
can be used in several ways: for example,
on the ceiling to block entry of mosquitoes
through the eaves (D.A. Boakye, Ghana,
2012, personal communication) or as cloth-
ing for personal protection.

prevent emergence of adults from eggs laid
in the trap (Chan et al. , 1977).
A version incorporating a larvicide and
adult attractant has been deployed by the
Philippine Government Department of
Science and Technology for Ae. aegypti
(Mindanews, 2011; Flores, 2013). These
have been widely deployed but no results
published yet show their effect on mosquito
abundance or disease transmission.

Lethal ovitraps

Zeichner and Perich (1999) adapted the
ovitrap to create a lethal version with an
egg-laying strip in the trap treated with
insecticide to kill adult female Aedes
mosquitoes attracted to the trap as well as
any eggs they lay. Trials using deltamethrin
on the egg-laying strips have demonstrated
that use of several of these traps per
household is generally effective in reducing
Ae. aegypti indoors (e.g. Perich et al. , 2003
in Brazil; Sithiprasasna et al. , 2003 in
Thailand; and Ritchie et al. , 2009, and
Rapley et al. , 2009, in Australia). Some
diffi culties were, however, encountered;
e.g. in one year in Thailand the insecticide-
impregnated strips developed fungal con-
tamination and failed to work and in the dry
season in Australia no signifi cant decrease
in female Ae. aegypti could be attributed to
the traps. There are a number of similar
reports on ovitrap usage but the outcomes
of these studies have not been made
available or published. For example, mass
deployment of lethal ovitraps was planned
in Key West, Florida in 2010 but because of
the diffi culty experienced in accessing the
sites in which staff were working and the
extensive labour involved, it was decided to
reduce the number of traps from 15,000 to
5,300 (Florida Keys Mosquito News, 2010).

Polystyrene beads

In India and urban East Africa, Culex
quinquefasciatus is the principal vector of
the lymphatic fi larial parasite Wuchereria
bancrofti that causes elephantiasis. In these
areas the larvae of this mosquito occur
principally in pit latrines, soakage pits and
buildings where the basements are fl ooded
with sullage water from leaking pipes
(Curtis, 2010). In such areas where the water
is retained by walls in a defi ned space, the
surface can be treated with a 1-cm layer of
expanded polystyrene (Styrofoam) beads
and in these situations the layers are very
durable. Reiter (1978) demonstrated that the
beads suffocate the larvae. Trials in
Zanzibar, Tanzania and in Tamil Nadu,
India showed the polystyrene bead
treatments greatly and sustainably reduced
the vector populations (Curtis et al. , 2002).

Ovitraps

Ovitraps, which attract egg-laying females
using water, are low-cost devices for
monitoring mosquito populations. They
were fi rst used for the control of Ae. aegypti
in the Singapore Paya Lebar International
Airport by modifying them to prevent the
emergence of larvae (Chan, 1972) and
resulted in elimination of the species from
the area. Chan developed this 'autocidal'
trap further to maximize attractiveness to
the egg-laying female Ae. aegypti and to

Adult traps

Adult mosquito traps have been in wide-
spread use for monitoring adult mosquito
populations for many years. These traps use
attractants to draw the adult mosquitoes