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. 2019 Jun 27;56(4):1033-1046.
doi: 10.1093/jme/tjz009.

Citywide Control of Aedes aegypti (Diptera: Culicidae) during the 2016 Zika Epidemic by Integrating Community Awareness, Education, Source Reduction, Larvicides, and Mass Mosquito Trapping

Roberto Barrera  1 , Angela Harris  1 , Ryan R Hemme  1 , Gilberto Felix  1 , Nicole Nazario  1 , Jorge L Muñoz-Jordan  2 , Damaris Rodriguez  1 , Julieanne Miranda  1 , Eunice Soto  1 , Stephanie Martinez  1 , Kyle Ryff  1 , Carmen Perez  1 , Veronica Acevedo  1 , Manuel Amador  1 , Stephen H Waterman  1
Affiliations

Citywide Control of Aedes aegypti (Diptera: Culicidae) during the 2016 Zika Epidemic by Integrating Community Awareness, Education, Source Reduction, Larvicides, and Mass Mosquito Trapping

Roberto Barrera et al. J Med Entomol. .

Abstract

This investigation was initiated to control Aedes aegypti and Zika virus transmission in Caguas City, Puerto Rico, during the 2016 epidemic using Integrated Vector Management (IVM), which included community awareness and education, source reduction, larviciding, and mass-trapping with autocidal gravid ovitraps (AGO). The epidemic peaked in August to October 2016 and waned after April 2017. There was a preintervention period in October/November 2016 and IVM lasted until August 2017. The area under treatment (23.1 km2) had 61,511 inhabitants and 25,363 buildings. The city was divided into eight even clusters and treated following a cluster randomized stepped-wedge design. We analyzed pools of female Ae. aegypti adults for RNA detection of dengue (DENV), chikungunya (CHIKV), and Zika (ZIKV) viruses using 360 surveillance AGO traps every week. Rainfall, temperature, and relative humidity were monitored in each cluster. Mosquito density significantly changed (generalized linear mixed model; F8, 14,588 = 296; P < 0.001) from 8.0 ± 0.1 females per trap per week before the intervention to 2.1 ± 0.04 after the percentage of buildings treated with traps was 60% and to 1.4 ± 0.04 when coverage was above 80%. Out of a total 12,081 mosquito pools, there were 1 DENV-, 7 CHIKV-, and 49 ZIKV-positive pools from October 2016 to March 2017. Afterward, we found only one positive pool of DENV in July 2017. This investigation demonstrated that it was possible to scale up effective Ae. aegypti control to a medium-size city through IVM that included mass trapping of gravid Ae. aegypti females.

Keywords: Aedes aegypti; AGO traps; Zika virus; mosquito control; vector-borne pathogen.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Map showing a satellite image and geographical location of Caguas City, Caguas Municipality, Puerto Rico. The map highlights the eight zones or clusters in which we divided the city so that each one had similar numbers of buildings. The map also shows the location of the 360 stationary surveillance AGO traps that were sampled every week during the period of study (October 2016 – August 2017).
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Flowchart of the study summarizing pre-intervention, intervention, and post-intervention timelines, steps, and results. IRB = Institutional Review Board; AGO= Autocidal Gravid Ovitrap; IVM= Integrated Vector Management.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Order and sequence (steps) of integrated vector control treatments in the eight clusters from October 2016 to August 2017 in Caguas City, Puerto Rico. Dates show when 60% of each cluster had been treated.
Figure 4.
Figure 4.
Weekly changes in the number of female Aedes aegypti per surveillance AGO trap, accumulated rainfall 2–3 weeks before sampling, and cumulative percentage of buildings treated with integrated vector control in Caguas City, Puerto Rico (October 2016 – August 2017). Rainfall bars are lagged forward 1.5 weeks to facilitate visual comparisons with the number of mosquitoes. The scale of control coverage has been doubled for presentation purposes.
Figure 5.
Figure 5.
Change in numbers of Aedes aegypti females per trap per week as a function of the percentage of buildings treated with integrated vector control in Caguas City, Puerto Rico.
Figure 6.
Figure 6.
Variation in the number of female Aedes aegypti per surveillance AGO trap, accumulated rainfall 2–3 weeks before sampling, and cumulative percentage of buildings treated with integrated vector control in each of the eight clusters in Caguas City, Puerto Rico (October 2016 – August 2017). Rainfall bars are lagged forward 1.5 weeks to facilitate visual comparisons with the number of mosquitoes.
Figure 7.
Figure 7.
Thiessen polygons around each of the 360 SAGO traps displaying the percentage of houses treated with IVM (A) and average number of Aedes aegypti females per trap per week (B) for three dates from October 2016 to August 2017 in Caguas City, Puerto Rico.
Figure 8.
Figure 8.
Number of RNA-positive mosquito pools for Zika, chikungunya, or dengue viruses, infection rates (mosquitoes per 1,000), and percentage of buildings treated with Integrated Vector Control per week in Caguas City, Puerto Rico from October 2016 to August 2017.
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