Assessment of Trinidad community stakeholder perspectives on the use of yeast interfering RNA-baited ovitraps for biorational control of Aedes mosquitoes

Abstract

Dengue, Zika, chikungunya and yellow fever viruses continue to be a major public health burden. Aedes mosquitoes, the primary vectors responsible for transmitting these viral pathogens, continue to flourish due to local challenges in vector control management. Yeast interfering RNA-baited larval lethal ovitraps are being developed as a novel biorational control tool for Aedes mosquitoes. This intervention circumvents increasing issues with insecticide resistance and poses no known threat to non-target organisms. In an effort to create public awareness of this alternative vector control strategy, gain stakeholder feedback regarding product design and acceptance of the new intervention, and build capacity for its potential integration into existing mosquito control programs, this investigation pursued community stakeholder engagement activities, which were undertaken in Trinidad and Tobago. Three forms of assessment, including paper surveys, community forums, and household interviews, were used with the goal of evaluating local community stakeholders’ knowledge of mosquitoes, vector control practices, and perceptions of the new technology. These activities facilitated evaluation of the hypothesis that the ovitraps would be broadly accepted by community stakeholders as a means of biorational control for Aedes mosquitoes. A comparison of the types of stakeholder input communicated through use of the three assessment tools highlighted the utility and merit of using each tool for assessing new global health interventions. Most study participants reported a general willingness to purchase an ovitrap on condition that it would be affordable and safe for human health and the environment. Stakeholders provided valuable input on product design, distribution, and operation. A need for educational campaigns that provide a mechanism for educating stakeholders about vector ecology and management was highlighted. The results of the investigation, which are likely applicable to many other Caribbean nations and other countries with heavy arboviral disease burdens, were supportive of supplementation of existing vector control strategies through the use of the yeast RNAi-based ovitraps.

Evaluation of superabsorbent polymer (SAP) in oviposition traps used in the integrated control of Aedes aegypti (Linnaeus, 1762) and Aedes albopictus (Skuse, 1894) (Diptera:Culicidae)

“…Given the constant search for better sustainable measures for the control of arbovirus vectors 7 - 29 , the present study provides important information on the use of SAP in ovitraps. The addition of hydrated SAP to the traditional ovitrap proved operationally efficient.…”

“…It is customary to add oviposition attractants to enhance productivity 16 , 21 . Other resources have been added to ovitraps, such as insecticides, microbial larvicides, pheromones, entomopathogenic fungi, and yeast ribonucleic acid (RNA) interference, to hinder the development of immature stages of vector mosquitoes 10 , 22 - 29 .…”

Field trials reveal the complexities of deploying and evaluating the impacts of yeast-baited ovitraps on Aedes mosquito densities in Trinidad, West Indies

“…This highlights the need to consider property inaccessibility in planning for future studies and how best to develop strategies that at a minimum would include efforts directed at more dense trap placements around the perimeters of these properties. We did simultaneously conduct several community engagement activities across Trinidad, including the Curepe area, prior to this study 52 , 53 , wherein we found that most residents were knowledgeable about mosquito biology and disease transmission, and also supportive of our yeast interfering RNA larvicides and their use in lethal ovitraps. Thus, it seems likely that including expanded community engagement activities prior to, and during future ovitrap trials, could promote increased neighbor-to-neighbor interactions that would facilitate access to and placement of ovitraps more effectively.…”

A Yeast RNA-Interference Pesticide Targeting the Irx Gene Functions as a Broad-Based Mosquito Larvicide and Adulticide

“…The ability of these insecticides to kill both larvae and adults opens opportunities to design integrated RNAi mosquito control programs in which a combination of methods, such as larvicidal treatment of breeding sites with interfering RNA larvicides, larval lethal lure-and-kill interfering RNA ovitraps [17], and RNAi-ATSBs is used simultaneously. Recent studies have uncovered a high level of acceptance of yeast RNAi-based larvicides and ovitraps among stakeholders in Trinidad and Tobago [59,60]. An engagement study in Tanzania [61] evaluated stakeholder acceptance of ivermectin-based ATSBs.…”