Infestation level of dengue vector according to day exposure of ovitrap in dengue cluster area / Paulina Pungging

Malaysia is one the nations that endemic in transmission of dengue disease. The purpose of this study was to investigate the infestation levels of Aedes mosquitoes using ovitrap with different number of day exposure of ovitrap in field. The ovitrap were left in field for three (3) days, five (5) days and seven (7) days and the data was collected according to day exposure. Result implied that Positive Ovitrap Index (POI) and mean egg per trap (MET) of Aedes mosquitoes in ovitrap was statistically significant different to number of day exposure [three (3) days = POI : 20.00 %, MET : 5.69, five (5) days = POI : 26.25 %, MET : 7.3, seven (7) days = POI : 40.00 %, MET : 11.41]. There is strong relationship between number of day exposure and the densities of egg where it can be concluded that the longer the trapping period the higher the densities of mosquito recorded. However, five (5) days exposure considered preferably to deploy ovitrap in field since seven (7) days exposure was too long and completed life cycle of Aedes mosquitoes might be expected in certain ovitrap. Hence, it is directly affects the vector control programs when to launch „alert‟ since the programs mostly relied on the threshold point of POI. Overall, the result from study indicates a new protocol of five (5) days can be used to investigate the infestation level of Aedes mosquitoes in dengue area.