Reducing Aedes albopictus breeding sites through education: a study in urban area

Abstract

Aedes albopictus tends to proliferate in small, often man-made bodies of water, largely present in urban private areas. For this reason, education and community participation are considered crucial for source reduction and mosquito control. In the current study, we tried to relate for the first time in Greece, the effectiveness of resident education in an urban area with the number of breeding sites based on previous KAP (knowledge, attitudes and practices) studies. Our study examines the relationship between mosquito breeding sources and socioeconomic or demographic characteristics of different households in a Greek municipality and evaluates efficacy of resident education. The results revealed that only a minority of residents knew where mosquitoes breed (18.6%) and only 46% felt that residents had any responsibility for managing breeding habitat. Our findings strongly suggest that only the presence of scientific staff inspecting possible habitats in their properties, could be enough to stimulate practices towards source reduction. However, educational interventions alone with printed education material cannot enhance significant community participation and source reduction.

Status of the invasive mosquito species Aedes aegypti (L., 1762) and Aedes albopictus (Skuse, 1895) (Diptera: Culicidae) in Turkey

“…Also, the attachment of eggs to the tires is important for the protection of Aedes population during the mosquito off season. However, the results showed that both species have the capacity to adapt to different breeding habitats such as discarded tanks, flower pots and water bottles, which is similar to reports of mosquito habits observed in other countries (Eritja et al, 2005;Seidahmed & Eltahir, 2016;Mathias et al, 2017;Stefopoulou et al, 2018). In this present study, tire dumps and used tires were mainly targeted for sampling to increase the possibility that immature stages of the species would be found.…”

A review of knowledge, attitudes and practices regarding mosquitoes and mosquito-borne infectious diseases in nonendemic regions

“…However, these studies also showed that a significant proportion of the surveyed persons had only a partial knowledge of the type of containers used as breeding sites, or identified other locations that are not suitable as breeding sites (15,(18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23). For instance, in Lyon, 81.6% of the respondents believed that tiger mosquitoes breed in vegetation that in fact is suitable resting sites for adults, but cannot serve for larval development (18).…”

“…For instance, in Lyon, 81.6% of the respondents believed that tiger mosquitoes breed in vegetation that in fact is suitable resting sites for adults, but cannot serve for larval development (18). Morse et al (15) showed that empty containers or rain gutters were not associated with potential breeding sites even though they represent highly suitable larval habitats for In Greece, a minority of respondents was able to identify correctly the place were mosquitoes lay their eggs and larvae grow (20,22,23). Similar observations were made from a German study where only 11.6% of respondents identified tree holes as potential water-holding larval habitats in their gardens (19).…”

“…In Washington DC, scientists' interventions to control mosquitoes have significantly reduced the number of breeding sites (41). According to a Greek study, raising awareness through printed educational materials alone has had no effect (20) or the opposite effect due to a decrease of MBID concern after the prevention campaign (64). Several studies highlighted that respondents perceived educational efforts by local authorities too low and asked for better strategies to enhance awareness about mosquito and MBIDs.…”

Seasonality and timing of peak abundance of <em>Aedes albopictus</em> in Europe: Implications to public and animal health

“…As the species breeds in small containers (Stefopoulou et al, 2018), the water temperature can quickly reach high values, even if the air temperature is lower (Kumar et al, 2018). During spring, the temperature conditions often allow a complete development from egg to adult in 2-3 weeks; however, clear field information on the mean duration of a generation time is still missing.…”