What Is Mosquito Vector Control & How INZECTO Mosquito Chips helped Prevent Vector Diseases
Have you heard the term mosquito vector control but you don’t know what it means. Learn how mosquito vector control works for eliminating mosquitoes.
Mosquitoes are one of our planet’s biggest killers, spreading disease wherever they live. Over 700,000 people die from mosquito-borne diseases each year, while West Nile virus and Zika virus continue to spread across the United States. Luckily, mosquito populations can be controlled. Read on to learn about mosquito vector control and how INZECTO products can be used to kill mosquitoes.
What Is Vector Control?
A vector is an insect or animal that transmits a disease from person to person. For instance, mosquitoes spread Zika by carrying infected blood. Vector control combines several methods to prevent pests from spreading these diseases.
Habitat Control
Mosquitoes breed in places where there’s standing water, such as untended swimming pools, old tires, or cans. People can reduce mosquito habitats by locating and removing stagnant water around their homes in places like plant saucers, buckets, garbage cans, barbecues, and any other object capable of retaining water.
Mosquito control officials also find ways to manage marshes and other natural habitats. In some conditions, they even import fish to eat mosquito larvae.
Larvicides
Mosquitoes lay their eggs in water, where they hatch into larvae. Some forms of mosquito control involve applying chemicals to kill the larvae before they can hatch into adults.
Insecticide Spray
In areas where mosquito problems must be addressed quickly, officials spray insecticide from trucks, airplanes, or helicopters to kill adult mosquitoes. According to the EPA, the chemicals used to spray mosquitoes in the USA break down into harmless components within 24 hours.
Mosquito Traps
Traps are useful for controlling mosquitoes in small areas. Some traps keep the mosquitoes contained, while others have a chemical coating that kills the mosquitoes on contact.
INZECTO Mosquito Chips Used for Mosquito Vector Control in Honduras
INZECTO held a trial mosquito vector control system in order to test the effectiveness of their new product, Mosquito Chips. This was done in Monte Verde, Honduras, which was experiencing an outbreak of dengue fever.
The Project
Monte Verde is a suburb of San Pedro Sula, the second-largest city in Honduras. Water is trucked in every Saturday and carried to homes in buckets and other containers, creating hundreds of sites for mosquitoes to breed. Mosquitoes also lay eggs in the tires which line the hand-dug wells.
The project, led by Professor Emeritus Phil Koehler of the University of Florida, aimed to reduce mosquito growth through the use of Mosquito Chips and biological methods.
Setup
INZECTO Mosquito Chips are small tiles that can be placed in outdoor objects or vessels with standing water to release micro-doses of larvicide for up to three months. The larvicide, pyriproxyfen, is a synthetic insect hormone that stunts larval growth but does not affect humans or animals.
In Monte Verde, Mosquito Chips were placed in water containers and in the tires that lined wells. Turtles and fish were also put in the water to control larvae.
Results
During the trial of a single application of INZECTO Mosquito Chips, Monte Verde had no cases of mosquito-borne diseases. In comparison, the surrounding area had 71 cases of dengue fever, 3 cases of Zika, and 1 case of Chikungunya.
Control Mosquitoes With INZECTO Products
You can use INZECTO products, including Mosquito Chips, Mosquito Traps, and Fly Traps to create your own mosquito vector control system. Contact us to learn more about our environmentally friendly products.