A Low-Cost, Passive Release Device for the Surveillance and Control of Mosquitoes

Michael W. C. Kwan, Alexander Bosak, Jedidiah Kline, Mario A. Pita, Nicholas Giel, Roberto M. Pereira, Philip G. Koehler, Daniel L. Kline, Christopher D. Batich and Bradley Jay Willenberg
Additional contact information
Michael W. C. Kwan: Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL 32827, USA
Alexander Bosak: Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL 32827, USA
Jedidiah Kline: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA
Mario A. Pita: United States Department of Agriculture-Center for Medical, Agricultural and Veterinary Entomology, Gainesville, FL 32608, USA
Nicholas Giel: Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL 32827, USA
Roberto M. Pereira: Entomology and Nematology Department, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611-0620, USA
Philip G. Koehler: Entomology and Nematology Department, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611-0620, USA
Daniel L. Kline: United States Department of Agriculture-Center for Medical, Agricultural and Veterinary Entomology, Gainesville, FL 32608, USA
Christopher D. Batich: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA
Bradley Jay Willenberg: Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL 32827, USA

IJERPH, 2019, vol. 16, issue 9, 1-7

Abstract: Mosquitoes continue to be a major threat to global health, and the ability to reliably monitor, catch, and kill mosquitoes via passive traps is of great importance. Global, low-cost, and easy-to-use outdoor devices are needed to augment existing efforts in mosquito control that combat the spread of disease, such as Zika. Thus, we have developed a modular, portable, non-powered (passive), self-contained, and field-deployable device suitable for releasing volatiles with a wide range of applications such as attracting, repelling, and killing mosquitoes. This unique device relies on a novel nested wick and two-reservoir design that achieves a constant release of volatiles over several hundred hours. Devices loaded with one of either two compounds, geraniol or 1-methylpiperazine (MP), were tested in a controlled environment (32 °C and 70% relative humidity), and both compounds achieved a constant release from our devices at a rate of 2.4 mg/h and 47 mg/h, respectively. The liquid payload can be volatile attractants or repellants as well as mosquitocide-containing feeding solutions for capture and surveillance. This low-cost device can be utilized for both civilian and military mosquito control purposes, but it will be particularly important for protecting those in economically repressed environments, such as sub-Saharan Africa and Central and South America.

Keywords: Spatial repellent; controlled release; surveillance; military; malaria; field-deployable device; Zika (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/16/9/1488/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/16/9/1488/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:16:y:2019:i:9:p:1488-:d:226362

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().