Employing Different Traps for Collection of Mosquitoes and Detection of Dengue, Chikungunya and Zika Vector, Aedes albopictus, in Borderline of Iran and Pakistan

Southeastern Iran has been established as an area with the potential to harbor Asian tiger mosquito popu lations. In 2013, a few numbers of Aedes albopictus were detected in three sampling sites of this region. This field study was aimed to evaluate the efficacy of various traps on monitoring mosquitoes and status of this dengue vector, in five urban and 15 suburban/rural areas.

For this purpose, four adult mosquito traps (BG-sentinel 2, bednet, Malaise, and resting box trap) were used and their efficacy compared. In addition, large numbers of CDC ovitraps were employed, within 12 months.

A total of 4878 adult samples including 22 species covering five genera were collected and identified from traps. It was not revealed any collection of Ae. albopictus. Statistical analysis showed no significant difference in mete orological variables between the two periods, the previous report and the current study. There were significant differ ences in the total number of mosquitoes collected by various traps in the region across different months.

The resulting data collected here on the efficiency of the various trap types can be useful for monitoring the densities of mosquito populations, which is an important component of a vector surveillance system. While the pres ence of Ae. albopictus was determined in this potential risk area, there is no evidence for its establishment and further monitoring needs to be carried out.