The Cost of Arbovirus Disease Prevention in Europe: Area-Wide Integrated Control of Tiger Mosquito, Aedes albopictus, in Emilia-Romagna, Northern Italy

Massimo Canali (), Stefano Rivas-Morales, Philippe Beutels and Claudio Venturelli
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Stefano Rivas-Morales: Department of Agricultural and Food Science, University of Bologna, 40127 Bologna, Italy
Philippe Beutels: Centre for Health Economics Research and Modelling Infectious Diseases, Vaccine and Infectious Disease Institute, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Antwerp, 2610 Antwerp, Belgium
Claudio Venturelli: Department of Public Health, Azienda Unità Sanitaria Locale della Romagna-Cesena, 47521 Cesena, Italy

IJERPH, 2017, vol. 14, issue 4, 1-22

Abstract: Aedes albopictus (tiger mosquito) has become the most invasive mosquito species worldwide, in addition to being a well-known vector of diseases, with a proven capacity for the transmission of chikungunya and dengue viruses in Europe as well as the Zika virus in Africa and in laboratory settings. This research quantifies the cost that needs to be provided by public-health systems for area-wide prevention of arboviruses in Europe. This cost has been calculated by evaluating the expenditure of the plan for Aedes albopictus control set up in the Emilia-Romagna region (Northern Italy) after a chikungunya outbreak occurred in 2007. This plan involves more than 280 municipalities with a total of 4.2 million inhabitants. Public expenditure for plan implementation in 2008–2011 was examined through simple descriptive statistics. Annual expenditure was calculated to be approximately €1.3 per inhabitant, with a declining trend (from a total of €7.6 million to €5.3 million) and a significant variability at the municipality level. The preventative measures in the plan included antilarval treatments (about 75% of total expenditure), education for citizens and in schools, entomological surveillance, and emergency actions for suspected viremias. Ecological factors and the relevance of tourism showed a correlation with the territorial variability in expenditure. The median cost of one antilarval treatment in public areas was approximately €0.12 per inhabitant. Organizational aspects were also analyzed to identify possible improvements in resource use.

Keywords: cost of area-wide integrated control of arbovirus vectors; Aedes albopictus; tiger mosquito; chikungunya; arbovirus prevention in Europe (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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