Assessment of the Effectiveness of a Seasonal-Long Insecticide-Based Control Strategy against Aedes albopictus Nuisance in an Urban Area.
Assessment of the Effectiveness of a Seasonal-Long Insecticide-Based Control Strategy against Aedes albopictus Nuisance in an Urban Area.
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DOI:
10.1371/journal.pntd.0004463
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发表时间:
2016-03
影响因子:
3.8
通讯作者:
della Torre A
中科院分区:
文献类型:
--
作者:
Caputo B;Manica M;D'Alessandro A;Bottà G;Filipponi F;Protano C;Vitali M;Rosà R;della Torre A
Seasonal-long larvicide treatments and/or outdoor space-spray applications of insecticides are frequently applied to reduce Aedes albopictus nuisance in urban areas of temperate regions, where the species has become a permanent pest affecting people’s quality of life and health. However, assessments of the effectiveness of sequential interventions is a difficult task, as it requires to take into account the cumulative and combined effect of multiple treatments, as well as the mosquito seasonal dynamics (rather than mosquito abundance before and after single treatments). We here present the results of the effectiveness assessment of a seasonal-long calendar-based control intervention integrating larvicide treatments of street catch basins and night-time adulticide ground spraying in the main University hospital in Rome (Italy). Cage-experiments and an intensive monitoring of wild mosquito abundance in treated and untreated sites were carried out along an entire season. Sticky traps were used to monitor adult abundance and site-specific eco-climatic variations (by recording water left over in each trap), in order to disentangle the effect of insecticide treatments from eco-climatic drivers on mosquito seasonal dynamics. Despite the apparent limited impact of single adulticide sprayings assessed based on mortality in caged and wild mosquitoes, the results of the temporal analysis showed that mosquito seasonal patterns were initially comparable in the two sites, diverged in the absence of diverging eco-climatic conditions and remained stable afterwards. This allowed to attribute the lack of the expected Ae. albopictus population expansion in the treated site to the combined effect of multiple adulticide sprayings and larvicide treatments carried out during the whole season. The approach proposed was proved to be successful to assess effects of seasonal-long control treatments on adult mosquito population dynamics and could represent a valuable instrument to assess the effectiveness of other control interventions, to evaluate their actual cost-benefits and to possibly minimize space-spraying applications to reduce mosquito nuisance. Due to the considerable nuisance created by the aggressive day-time biting behaviour of the “tiger mosquito,” insecticide treatments are largely employed in urban areas of temperate regions where this tropical species has become a permanent pest. These include treatments of catch basins with lethal products for mosquito larvae and spraying of insecticides against flying adults. Despite the latter having a high environmental impact and not being recommended by health authorities to reduce the nuisance to citizens, they are perceived as the approach providing the greatest benefits. However, this is not fully demonstrated. We showed that a seasonal-long calendar-based control intervention carried out against mosquito larvae and adults in Rome (Italy) was effective in reducing the mosquito abundance in the months when highest densities and nuisance are known to occur. The novel methodological approach followed here facilitates the assessment of the actual effectiveness of control strategies against mosquitoes, which are very rarely assessed due to technical difficulties, high costs and lack of commitments, but are instrumental to optimize control strategies. Should our preliminary indications of a major effect of larvicide treatments be confirmed, the more harmful exploitation of insecticide spraying could be reduced or eliminated.