This study evaluated the efficacy of a commercially available mosquito trap, the Mosquito Magnet Liberty Plus (MM), in reducing human biting rates under semi-field conditions when used alone or with different types of repellents. The MM trap significantly reduced the human biting rate with both laboratory-reared Culex quinquefasciatus and Anopheles gambiae sensu stricto. The MM trap catch did not increase when a mosquito coil was burned but did significantly increase when a skin repellent was applied to the human bait. Microencapsulated repellent ankle bands did not increase the MM trap catch with either Cx. quinquefasciatus or An. gambiae s.s., although its combination with the trap was more effective at reducing bites by Cx. quinquefasciatus. The absence of the commercial attractant Lurex3 in traps significantly lowered the catch efficiency of Cx. quinquefasciatus even when the skin repellent was applied to volunteers. The results from this study showed that the use of a skin repellent and an attractant-baited trap can significantly reduce the human biting rate of both nuisance biting mosquitoes and malaria vectors. Further work is required to investigate how this push-pull system would work in a field environment.
Malaria is the most important public health problem in Sub-Saharan Africa. There is a pressing need for development and use of alternative control approaches, which will remain effective even with increasing threat of mosquito resistance to chemical control and smaller number of approved chemical insecticides. This study evaluated the effect of combined use of attractant baited Mosquito Magnet Liberty Plus™ (MM) trap and bed nets on human mosquito biting rates under semi-field conditions. Human landing catch done under holed bednets was used to assess the number of biting mosquitoes attracted to human bait. A combination of MM trap and untreated bednet reduced biting rates of Culex qunquefascatus but not Anopheles gambae s.s. However, combining an insecticide treated bednet (ITN) and MM trap greatly reduced biting rates of both Cx qunquefascatus and An. gambae s.s. Moreover, a treated bednet increased the MM trap catch of both Cx qunquefascatus and An. gambae s.s. The present study has shown the potential of a combination of MM trap and ITN in trapping and controlling vectors of malaria and lymphatic filariasis. Synergistic use of attractant baited traps and ITNs displays a 'push-pull' phenomenon. The findings indicate that the strategy could be incorporated in an integrated mosquito control approach to maximise the efficiency of mosquito populationreduction methods through the use of appropriately selected methods. ________________________________________________________________________________________________
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