Linking Water Quality to Aedes aegypti and Zika in Flood-Prone Neighborhoods

Abstract

The ability of ecosystems to regulate water quality and flood events has been linked to health outcomes, including mosquito-borne illnesses. In the San Juan Bay Estuary watershed of Puerto Rico, habitat alterations and land-use development have disrupted watershed hydrology, exacerbating wastewater discharges and subjecting some neighborhoods to frequent flooding events. In 2016, the mosquito-borne illness Zika became a new cause for concern. We hypothesized that nutrient-enriched flood water could provide pulses of supplemental nutrients to local mosquito populations. We conducted a field study in six neighborhoods adjacent to the estuary to assess whether environmental variability of nutrient inputs could be linked to breeding habitat containers, Aedes aegypti larvae and adults, and the acquisition of Zika virus by adult mosquitoes. The most frequently flooded neighborhood had consistently higher levels of nitrogen in estuary water, leaf detritus, containers, and adult mosquitoes compared to other neighborhoods. Adult body nitrogen was significantly related to both nitrogen content of containers and leaf detritus from the local trapping area. Disseminated Zika concentration in adult Ae. aegypti tended to decrease as body carbon and nitrogen increased. Our study provides preliminary evidence that environmental variability in nutrient inputs can influence viral acquisition by mosquito vectors. This suggests that management actions to reduce flooding and improve water quality should go hand-in-hand with more traditional vector control methods, such as aerial spraying, to help control spread of vector-borne diseases.

The effects of temperature and shading on mortality and development rates of Aedes aegypti (Diptera: Culicidae)

“…Urbanization associated with human development is an important contributor to the spread of disease vectors by influencing available Ae. aegypti oviposition sites, habitats, and feeding behavior, as well as directly mediating changes to insolation regimes (Vanwambeke et al , Yee et al ). Aedes aegypti is widespread throughout the tropics, as is human overpopulation and urbanization (Ocampo and Wesson ).…”

Dinámica espaciotemporal de la población del mosquito Aedes aegypti (L.) en la zona del Caño Martín Peña en San Juan de Puerto Rico durante los años epidemiológicos 2018–2019; repercusiones a la salud para los residentes de las comunidades aledañas

“…Según Barrera (2010), los factores ambientales de riesgo en la isla de Puerto Rico son el clima (estacionalidad, humedad, temperatura), la densidad del mosquito, el control de vectores, nivel socioeconómico, el alto grado de urbanismo y posiblemente el cambio climático. Y para otros autores también añadirían los factores ambientales de riesgo para Puerto Rico son la nutrición de las larvas, la densidad de las larvas, la nutrición de los mosquitos adultos, el tamaño del cuerpo del mosquito adulto, la estacionalidad y el clima, factores que afectan la calidad de agua, y la química del agua en pozos sépticos, lugares crípticos y súper productivos (Yee et al, 2019).…”

“…aegypti o del virus de la fiebre del dengue con el uso de modelos matemáticos, y sus variables explicativas y dependientes, son útiles para establecer un modelo regresivo básico que busque predecir los patrones de los brotes ocurridos o posibles brotes en el futuro inmediato (Getis et al, 2010;Khormi & Kumar, 2011;Takahashi et al, 2005). En estos modelos matemáticos, las variables explicativas son los factores climáticos/meteorológicos: precipitación pluvial, humedad atmosférica, fuerza del viento, temperatura atmosférica y como variable dependiente a la densidad poblacional del mosquito, periodos de la etapa de maduración de las formas inmaduras del mosquito y los casos de dengues reportados (Barrera et al, 2008(Barrera et al, , 2011(Barrera et al, , 2014Hopp & Foley, 2003;Maciel-de-Freitas et al, 2008;Morin et al, 2015;Yee et al, 2019).…”

Dengue Disease Dynamics are Modulated by the Combined Influence of Precipitation and Landscapes: A Machine Learning-based Approach

“…Breeding containers located in high residential density areas with a higher flood risk, despite being watered by rainwater or water for domestic usage, might have a higher chance to be reached by flood waters. However, flood waters can also extend the range of potential habitats for mosquitoes (Yee, et al 2019). Even more unusual breeding sites such as underground septic tanks were reported as favorable for Ae.…”