Simple intervention to reduce mosquito breeding in waste stabilisation ponds

TY - JOUR

T1 - Simple intervention to reduce mosquito breeding in waste stabilisation ponds

AU - Ensink, Jeroen H J

AU - Mukhtar, Muhammad

AU - van der Hoek, Wim

AU - Konradsen, Flemming

N1 - Keywords: Animals; Breeding; Culicidae; Insect Vectors; Mosquito Control; Pakistan; Waste Disposal, Fluid; Water Purification

PY - 2007

Y1 - 2007

N2 - Waste stabilisation ponds (WSP) are the preferred method for treatment of urban wastewater in low-income countries but, especially in arid regions, the pond systems can be important breeding sites for mosquitoes of medical importance. In a WSP system in Faisalabad, Pakistan, we assessed the impact of simple environmental interventions on mosquito occurrence and abundance. Reducing the amount of floating matter in the ponds, eliminating emergent vegetation and repairing cracks in the cement structure reduced the number of mosquito-positive samples in the intervention ponds to almost zero, whereas the control ponds had a significant number of positive samples. This suggests that a combination of simple low-cost interventions is a feasible environmental management strategy for vector control in WSP systems that are located in areas where medically important mosquitoes may breed in the shallow ponds.

AB - Waste stabilisation ponds (WSP) are the preferred method for treatment of urban wastewater in low-income countries but, especially in arid regions, the pond systems can be important breeding sites for mosquitoes of medical importance. In a WSP system in Faisalabad, Pakistan, we assessed the impact of simple environmental interventions on mosquito occurrence and abundance. Reducing the amount of floating matter in the ponds, eliminating emergent vegetation and repairing cracks in the cement structure reduced the number of mosquito-positive samples in the intervention ponds to almost zero, whereas the control ponds had a significant number of positive samples. This suggests that a combination of simple low-cost interventions is a feasible environmental management strategy for vector control in WSP systems that are located in areas where medically important mosquitoes may breed in the shallow ponds.

U2 - 10.1016/j.trstmh.2007.07.007

DO - 10.1016/j.trstmh.2007.07.007

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 17825333

SN - 0035-9203

VL - 101

SP - 1143

EP - 1146

JO - Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene

JF - Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene

IS - 11

ER -