Assessment of the effectiveness of BG-Sentinel traps baited with CO2 and BG-Lure for the surveillance of vector mosquitoes in Miami-Dade County, Florida

Abstract

Vector-borne diseases are an increasing issue to public health, endangering billions of people worldwide. Controlling vector mosquitoes is widely accepted as the most effective way to prevent vector-borne disease outbreaks. Mosquito surveillance is critical for the development of control strategies under the integrated vector management framework. We hypothesize that the effectiveness and reliability of using BG-Sentinel traps for the surveillance strongly depend on the bait used to attract mosquitoes. The objective of this study was to compare the effectiveness of BG-Sentinel traps baited with CO 2 and BG-Lure. A total of 72 traps were deployed for 48 hours once a week for four weeks. For the initial 24-hour period, the traps were baited with CO 2 , and then for an additional 24 hours using the BG-Lure. Collected mosquitoes were analyzed using the Generalized Estimating Equation for repeated measures analysis. Biodiversity was assessed by the Shannon and Simpson indices and by individual rarefaction curves and SHE profiles. A total of 5,154 mosquitoes were collected, from which 3,514 by traps baited with CO 2 and 1,640 mosquitoes by traps baited with BG-Lure. Aedes aegypti and Culex quinquefasciatus were the most abundant and dominant species. Results from the Generalized Estimating Equation models indicated that more than twice as many mosquitoes were attracted CO 2 than to the BG-Lure. The comparison of attractiveness of CO 2 and BG-Lure to Ae . aegypti and Cx . quinquefasciatus was non-significant, suggesting that both species were equally attracted by the baits. The individual rarefaction curves for Ae . aegypti and Cx . quinquefasciatus imply that traps baited with BG-Lure underestimated mosquito species richness compared to those baited with CO 2 . BG-Lure were less effective in attracting mosquitoes with low abundances and failed to collect Cx . coronator and Cx . nigripalpus , which were consistently collected by traps baited with CO 2 . According to our results, CO 2 significantly ( P <0.05) attracted more mosquitoes (2.67 adjusted odds ratios) than the BG-Lure when adjusted for time and species, being more effective in assessing the relative abundance of vector mosquitoes and yielding more trustworthy results. Traps baited with CO 2 collected not only more specimens, but also more species in a more consistent pattern.

The Mosquito Electrocuting Trap As An Exposure-Free Method For Measuring Human Biting Rates ByAedesMosquito Vectors

“…However, the degree to which BGS collections accurately reflect per capita human biting rates is unclear. For example, BGS trapping efficiency may vary with the type and number and types of lures used, and volume of C02 released [60,76,101], making it difficult to infer how they translate to exposure experienced by one person in that environment. An advantage of the MET is that it is more directly analogous to the human landing catch in sampling mosquitoes in the process of host seeking on a person.…”

“…The trap operates with a 12-volt battery that powers an internal fan that produces inwards artificial air currents. In this study, each trap was baited with two BG-Lure® cartridges and a 1.4 litre cooler bottle filled with dry ice, as it is known that CO2 increases the catch efficiency of BGS traps [76,77,80]. Mosquitoes are attracted towards the baited traps and then sucked through the hollow black cylinder into an internal mesh bag that can be easily removed for posterior processing.…”

“…Only a few studies have directly compared such alternative trapping methods against the HLC with most being outperformed by the latter [74,75]. Out of all these methods, the BG-sentinel (BGS) trap has been demonstrated as one of the most effective and logistically feasible [76][77][78][79][80][81], and thus often considered a gold standard for Aedes surveillance [82,83]. In a range of trap evaluation studies, the BGS outperformed other methods for Aedes vectors with the exception of the HLC [84].…”

Cemeteries in Miami-Dade County, Florida are important areas to be targeted in mosquito management and control efforts

“…Each cemetery was surveyed once. Adult mosquitoes were collected with BG-Sentinel 2 traps (Biogents AG, Regensburg, Germany) baited with dry ice [42], for 24 hours. Two BG-Sentinel traps were used to collect adult mosquitoes at each cemetery.…”

The mosquito electrocuting trap as an exposure-free method for measuring human-biting rates by Aedes mosquito vectors

“…Only a few studies have directly compared such alternative trapping methods against the HLC with most being outperformed by the latter [44,45]. Out of all these methods, the BG-sentinel (BGS) trap has been demonstrated as one of the most effective and logistically feasible [46,47], and thus often considered a gold standard for Aedes surveillance [48,49]. In a range of trap evaluation studies, the BGS outperformed other methods for Aedes vectors except for HLC [50].…”