Assessment of community support for Wolbachia-mediated population suppression as a control method for Aedes aegypti mosquitoes in a community cohort in Puerto Rico.

Arboviral diseases transmitted by Aedes species mosquitoes pose an increasing public health challenge in tropical regions. Wolbachia-mediated population suppression (Wolbachia suppression) is a vector control method used to reduce Aedes mosquito populations by introducing male mosquitoes infected with Wolbachia, a naturally occurring endosymbiotic bacterium. When Wolbachia-infected male mosquitoes mate with female wild mosquitoes, the resulting eggs will not hatch. Public support is vital to the successful implementation and sustainability of vector control interventions. Communities Organized to Prevent Arboviruses (COPA) is a cohort study to determine the incidence of arboviral disease in Ponce, Puerto Rico and evaluate vector control methods. Focus groups were conducted with residents of COPA communities to gather their opinion on vector control methods; during 2018-2019, adult COPA participants were interviewed regarding their views on Wolbachia suppression; and a follow-up questionnaire was conducted among a subset of participants and non-participants residing in COPA communities. We analyzed factors associated with support for this method. Among 1,528 participants in the baseline survey, median age was 37 years and 63% were female. A total of 1,032 (68%) respondents supported Wolbachia suppression. Respondents with an income of $40,000 or more were 1.34 times as likely [95% CI: 1.03, 1.37] to support Wolbachia suppression than those who earned less than $40,000 annually. Respondents who reported repellant use were 1.19 times as likely to support Wolbachia suppression [95% CI: 1.03, 1.37]. A follow-up survey in 2020 showed that most COPA participants (86%) and non-participants living in COPA communities (84%) supported Wolbachia suppression during and after an educational campaign. The most frequent questions regarding this method were related to its impact on human and animal health, and the environment. Continuous community engagement and education efforts before and during the implementation of novel vector control interventions are necessary to increase and maintain community support.

Rapid Screening of Aedes aegypti Mosquitoes for Susceptibility to Insecticides as Part of Zika Emergency Response, Puerto Rico.

In response to the 2016 Zika outbreak, Aedes aegypti mosquitoes from 38 locations across Puerto Rico were screened using Centers for Disease Control and Prevention bottle bioassays for sensitivity to insecticides used for mosquito control. All populations were resistant to pyrethroids. Naled, an organophosphate, was the most effective insecticide, killing all mosquitoes tested.

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

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.