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. 2026 Feb 14.
doi: 10.1186/s13071-025-06955-0. Online ahead of print.

Temephos susceptibility status in Aedes aegypti populations from western, central, and eastern regions of Cuba

Luis Augusto Piedra  1 , Dayana Rodriguez  2 , Waldemar Baldoquin  2 , Pablo Cardenas  2 , Eric Camacho #  2 , Israel Garcia #  2 , Ilien Mitjans #  2 , Nell Cox #  2 , Veerle Vanlerberghe  3 , Maria Del Carmen Marquetti  4
Affiliations
Free article

Temephos susceptibility status in Aedes aegypti populations from western, central, and eastern regions of Cuba

Luis Augusto Piedra et al. Parasit Vectors. .
Free article

Abstract

Background: Aedes aegypti chemical control remains the major strategy to prevent dengue, Zika, and Chikungunya outbreaks. The Cuba archipelago organizes a constant surveillance in its entire territory to follow up the distribution and infestation levels, but also insecticide resistance of Ae. aegypti, to estimate arbovirus transmission risk for its inhabitants. The objective of this study was to determine temephos susceptibility status in the Ae. aegypti population from western, central, and eastern regions of Cuba.

Methods: Aedes larvae bioassays were performed following World Healthy Organization (WHO) methodology. Entomological samples were collected in the western (Pinar del Rio and Matanzas), central (Santa Clara [Villa Clara], Cienfuegos, Sancti Spíritus, and Camagüey), and eastern (Las Tunas, Holguín, Santiago de Cuba, and Guantánamo) regions of Cuba from February 2022 to June 2023.

Results: This study showed susceptibility in Las Tunas population (RR50 = 0.94). Santa Clara [Villa Clara] (RR50 = 8.94), Cienfuegos (RR50 = 5.88), and Sancti Spíritus (RR50 = 6.7) populations showed moderate resistance and the rest showed high resistance (RR50 > 10) to temephos.

Conclusions: Most Ae. aegypti populations tested from western, central and eastern regions of Cuba showed spatial homogeneity of temephos resistance owing to the intensive use of this larvicide since 1981. Insecticide resistance management by the National Vector Control Program is required to reverse temephos resistance development.

Keywords: Aedes aegypti; Insecticide; Resistance; Temephos.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Ethics approval and consent to participate: Not applicable. Consent for publication: Not applicable. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.

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