The lethal ovitrap: a response to the resurgence of dengue and chikungunya

There has been a global resurgence in dengue fever since the 1960s and now more than one third of the world's population lives in dengue endemic areas. Chikungunya, another mosquito-borne disease, had been limited to sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia, but recently spread to Italy and France, raising concerns that it could spread to many more countries in Europe and the Americas. There are currently no vaccines available to prevent infection with either virus and medical care is limited to symptomatic and supportive treatments. Suppression of the mosquito vector populations reduces disease transmission, however, the tools currently available to control the main vectors of dengue and chikungunya are inadequate. Larval control is very labor intensive and pesticide sprays do not adequately penetrate the microhabitats where adult mosquitoes are sequestered. The lethal ovitrap addresses these shortcomings by luring the potentially viremic female mosquitoes to an egg laying site where they are exposed to a toxic insecticide dose. It is a safe, environmentally sound, economical, and simple means of dengue and chikungunya vector control whose efficacy has been documented in 9 research papers. Management programs using the lethal ovitrap have been shown to halt dengue and chikungunya transmission. Efforts are underway to mass produce the lethal ovitrap under the registered trade name Trap-N-Kill which will ensure its availability to our armed forces deployed in dengue and chikungunya endemic areas.