Surveillance and control of Aedes aegypti (Diptera: Culicidae): a new proposal.

Entomological indices based on larval surveillance methods are not sensitive enough to accurately monitor Aedes aegypti population densities in areas differing in levels of infestation. Here, we present and discuss results obtained from a pilot program using a new approach, the Monitoring System and Population Control of Aedes aegypti (SMCPAedes), based on spatial information technology utilizing data on the spatial and temporal distribution of Aedes. The SMCP-Aedes data was continuously generated by a set of sentinel-ovitraps (OVT-S) in Santa Cruz do Capibaribe and Ipojuca urban areas, two municipalities of Pernambuco, Brazil, which have different patterns of settlement and biogeography. The first results, recorded in June 2008, showed that both areas were highly infested by A. aegypti, with more than 90% of OVT-S positive for A. aegypti, and detected densities of 1223 eggs/OVT-S/month in Sta Cruz and 561.2 eggs/OVT-S/month in Ipojuca. A significant reduction in population densities to 363.5 eggs/OVT-S/month and 138.6 eggs/OVT-S/month, respectively, was observed after six rounds of control intervention consisting of massive egg elimination using 8,000 control-ovitraps (OVT-C). Over this period, approximately 5 million eggs and 2,700 adult mosquitoes were removed from those areas. The strategies and tools used in the SMCP-Aedes allowed us to quantify the active population of A. aegypti, indicating periods and places of higher human exposure to the mosquito. The instruments used for mechanical removal of eggs and adults are effective and can be integrated in a sustainable control program.