Emerging Technologies For Control of Aedes Aegypti and Aedes Albopictus (Diptera, Culicidae)

Abstract:
Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus are key vectors of dengue and chikungunya. The status of the main emerging control technologies for these species which have reached open cage or field trial stages is reviewed: insecticide impregnated fabrics, lethal ovitraps, Mesocyclops, Wolbachia, densovirus and Release of Insects Carrying a Dominant Lethal (RIDL) Gene. These technologies have shown effectiveness, with insecticide impregnated fabrics being the next addition to large scale programmes and RIDL the most promising alternative approach to insecticide treatments. RIDL enables control of both species where a proportion of the mosquito resting sites and breeding sites cannot be sprayed. It has proved effective in cage trials and in a first open field trial where it led to a reduction of 80% in the population of wild Ae. aegypti.