Study on the distribution and abundance of dengue vectors using mosquito autocidal trap

Dengue fever is one of the deadliest mosquito borne disease that commonly found in tropical and sub-tropical country. The virus that causes dengue and dengue hemorrhagic fever is an arbovirus with four antigenically distinct serotypes (DEN-1, 2, 3 and 4) that offer no long-term cross-protective immunity against each other. Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus are the two vectors to spread the dengue virus. Intensive control efforts by health agencies such as space spraying and search-and-destroy are the method that been use for many years to control the population of the mosquitoes, but the virus contiously to spread. A study conducted in Ayer Keroh, Melaka to evaluate the effectiveness of Malaysia Mosquitoe Autocidal Trap (MyMAT) in capturing and killing adult Aedes mosquitoes. This device is a modification of the traditional ovitrap used to monitor mosquitoes, especially the Aedes species. One residential area, Taman Tasik Utama C, Ayer Keroh, Melaka was selected for this study. Each house will install with four MyMAT, two MyMAT will be place at indoor environment and two more will be place at outdoor environment. The MyMAT will randomly install at the resident houses for 10 weeks. For every 2 week, the sticky ring will be collected and replace with the new sticky ring. The positive sticky ring will be send to the laboratory for identification, counted and record of the mosquitoes species. Female Aedes albopictus was the predominant mosquito trapped in the MyMAT (13.5%), followed by female Aedes aegypti (10.4%). On an average, about 27% of the participating houses successfully trapped Aedes species during each visit. The MyMAT is thus an effective device for trapping and controlling mosquitoes, especially Aedes species.