Evaluation of surveillance devices for monitoring Aedes aegypti in an urban area of northeastern Peru.

In this study, we assessed the efficacy of the American Biophysics Corporation Standard Professional (ABC-PRO) light trap, the Omni-Directional Fay-Prince trap (with and without CO2), and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Wilton trap as a means of evaluating populations of adult Aedes aegypti in an urban area of northeastern Peru. Efficacies of collections from each of the trap types were compared to backpack-aspirator collections and human-landing collections. Collections were conducted twice daily, 3 days per week, for 27 wk from July 2001 to July 2002. Backpack-aspirator collections yielded significantly more mosquitoes (1,764) than any of the other collecting methods with a mean of 21.80 mosquitoes collected per sampling period. This method was less specific for Ae. aegypti than were human-landing collections because only 28.3% of mosquitoes collected with backpack aspirators were Ae. aegypti. Human-landing collections yielded only 23% (554/2,411) of the total mosquitoes collected. However, more than 80% (445/554) of the mosquitoes collected by this method were Ae. aegypti. None of the trapping devices evaluated collected mosquitoes, specifically Ae. aegypti, as effectively as backpack-aspirator or human-landing collections. The ABC-PRO trap, which was the most effective device in collecting mosquitoes, particularly Ae. aegypti, collected less than 2% of the total mosquitoes (mean of 0.12 mosquitoes/sampling period), and less than 3% of total Ae. aegypti (mean of 0.11 Ae. aegypti/sampling period). We conclude that none of the trap devices evaluated in this study is an acceptable alternative to backpack-aspirator or human-landing collections for monitoring populations of adult Ae. aegypti in Peru.