Letter To The Editor: An Alternative Way To Fight Chikungunya

Dear Editor,

I am responding to a story included in the featured health news section of your October 3rd paper about fogging not being effective for the chikungunya outbreak.

In your article, the local health department has decided to contain dengue fever and chikungunya by educating the public on eliminating stagnant water sources around their homes. There is an even more effective way to win the fight against the Asian Tiger Mosquito and the diseases they carry. We can actually eliminate the threat using a safe, effective, mosquito trap developed by an innovative insect control/application research company in The Netherlands. 

The team developed a trap that targets the offending species using yeast tablets as a lure, dark stagnant water for the females to lay their eggs and a very effective larvicide that destroys the juvenile mosquito.The adult female then carries the larvicide to other breeding grounds, killing those larvae as well. A second ingredient, a fungus, infects her and kills her after spreading the larvicide but before transmitting the disease.

The trap is cost-effective, requires no electricity and could be distributed by local agencies where epidemics are present. The advantage of this method is not poisoning the environment, including bees or humans’ water supply. The active ingredients used have prior approval from EPA and WHO. The EPA is in the process of approving the combination.

Health officials have succeeded in educating us regarding standing water. Now it is time for to them to augment our efforts with these mosquito traps that could solve the problem.

By: Mary Stone

The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the staff and management of the VI Consortium.