Mosquito Control

A West Nile vaccine plan that targets older people in areas of the United States with a high incidence of the virus would be a more cost-effective strategy than an age-based strategy alone, or a national plan, researchers said.

The release of Wolbachia-infected mosquitoes led to a 77% reduction in the incidence of symptomatic dengue in an Indonesian city, according to researchers, who said the same approach could be used to fight other mosquito-borne diseases.

Researchers have been exploring the use of genetically modified mosquitos as a potential control method for vector-borne diseases.

The CDC and the American Mosquito Control Association collaborated to create the first-ever resource that can be used to guide mosquito control in areas affected by natural disasters, including hurricanes and floods.

Researchers found significant gaps in existing model-based predictions of Aedes mosquito distribution in the United States, reporting in a recent study that “the edges of the geographic range of these important species remain uncertain.”

Cases of dengue infection declined significantly in areas of Australia, Brazil, Indonesia and Vietnam where lab-grown mosquitos carrying Wolbachia were released, according to findings presented at the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene Annual Meeting.