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. 2022 May 11;17(5):e0266714.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0266714. eCollection 2022.

A handmade trap for malaria mosquito surveillance by citizens in Rwanda

Marilyn M Murindahabi  1   2 , Willem Takken  1 , Emmanuel Hakizimana  3 , Arnold J H van Vliet  4 , P Marijn Poortvliet  5 , Leon Mutesa  6 , Constantianus J M Koenraadt  1
Affiliations

A handmade trap for malaria mosquito surveillance by citizens in Rwanda

Marilyn M Murindahabi et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

For effective sampling of mosquitoes in malaria surveillance programmes, it is essential to include attractive cues in traps. With the aim of implementing a citizen science project on malaria vectors in rural Rwanda, a handmade plastic bottle trap was designed and tested in the field to determine its effectiveness in capturing adult Anopheles gambiae sensu lato, the main malaria vector, and other mosquito species. Carbon dioxide (CO2) and light were used as attractive cues. CO2 was produced by inoculating sugar with yeast and water. Light was emitted from a torch by light-emitting diodes (LEDs). Under field conditions in rural Rwanda, three handmade trap designs were compared to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention miniature light traps (CDC-LT) in houses. The trap baited with yeast produced CO2 and light caught the highest number of mosquitoes compared to the traps baited with light alone or CO2 alone. The number of An. gambiae s.l. in the handmade trap with light and CO2 was approximately 9-10% of the number caught with a CDC light trap. This suggests that about 10 volunteers with a handmade trap could capture a similar-sized sample of An. gambiae as one CDC-LT would collect. Based on these findings, the handmade plastic bottle trap baited with sugar fermenting yeast and light represents an option for inclusion in mosquito surveillance activities in a citizen science context.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. Map of Kibaza showing the three groups of four selected houses (in black, blue and red) included in the study.
Inset shows Rwanda in green with Bugesera district in grey and the location of Kibaza village indicated with a red dot.
Fig 2
Fig 2. The handmade trap evaluated in the field: (1) torch suspended at 5 centimeters above the trap entrance, (2) gauze net, (3) a ¾ cut plastic bottle wrapped with black scotch tape.
Fig 3
Fig 3. Boxplots showing the number of Anopheles gambiae s.l.
(A and B) and Culicidae (C and D) collected using a CDC light trap (12 trapping nights per treatment) or a trap baited with a sugar and yeast mixture (12 trapping nights per treatments) in Rwanda.
Fig 4
Fig 4. Boxplots showing the number of Anopheles gambiae s.l.
(A and B) and Culicidae (C and D) collected using a CDC light trap (12 trapping nights per treatment) or a trap baited with light (12 trapping nights per treatments) in Rwanda.
Fig 5
Fig 5. Boxplots showing the number of Anopheles gambiae s.l.
(A and B) and Culicidae (C and D) collected using a CDC light trap (12 trapping nights per treatment) or a trap baited with the combination of a sugar-yeast mixture and light (12 trapping nights per treatments) in Rwanda.
Fig 6
Fig 6. Estimated incidence rate ratio’s (IRR, Table 4) and their 95% confidence intervals for the main effect of trap type (handmade trap versus CDC light trap) for the numbers of female An. gambiae (left panel) and Culicidae (right panel).
L: handmade trap baited with light only, S + Y: handmade trap baited with a sugar-yeast mixture, S + Y + L: handmade trap baited with a sugar-yeast mixture and light.
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