Researchers from Canada and Mexico have created a do it yourself trap that captures up to seven times as many mosquito eggs as standard traps, according to a study published in F1000Research.
The 10-month study, backed by a Canadian grant, was conducted in a remote urban area of Guatemala. The aim of the study was to determine the efficacy of implementing at three-tier response to mosquito control, including health worker training, a low-cost ecological mosquito trap and community engagement on mosquito control.
The low-cost trap created in the study is made from two 50-centimeter sections of old car tire, formed into a mouth-like shape and equipped with a fluid release valve. The lower tire cavity contains a milk-based, non-toxic solution to lure mosquitoes. A wooden or paper strip floats in the substance and there the female mosquito lays her eggs. The strip is removed twice weekly, the eggs are analyzed and then destroyed using fire or ethanol. The trap is called an ovillanta.
"We decided to use recycled tires — partly because tires already represent up to 29 percent of the breeding sites chosen by the Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, partly because tires are a universally affordable instrument in low-resource settings, and partly because giving old tires a new use creates an opportunity to clean up the local environment," said Gerardo Ulibarri, PhD, associate professor at Laurentian University in Greater Sudbury, Ontario, Canada.
Over the study period, 84 ovillantas led to the capture and destruction of more than 18,100 eggs from Aedes mosquitoes per month, which is almost seven times the approximately 2,700 eggs collected monthly using 84 standard traps in the same areas.
Pesticide-resistance and economic constraints have made controlling the spread of Aedes mosquitoes difficult, especially in more susceptible impoverished communities. Innovation will prove valuable as nations continue to battle back against Zika.
An encouraging bit of anecdotal evidence produced by the study is that no new cases of dengue were reported as originating in the ovillanta study test areas. Typically this community would encounter two or three dozen cases in that 10-month timeframe.
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