Following the 2006 Chikungunya disease in La Reunion, questions were raised concerning the monitoring survey of Aedes albopictus populations and the entomological indexes used to evaluate population abundance. The objectives of the present study were to determine reliable productivity indexes using a quantitative method to improve entomological surveys and mosquito control measures on Aedes albopictus. Between 2007 and 2011, 4 intervention districts, 24 cities, 990 areas and over 850,000 houses were used to fulfil those objectives. Four indexes including the classical Stegomyia index (House Index, Container Index, Breteau Index) plus an Infested Receptacle Index were studied in order to determine whether temporal (year, month, week) and/or spatial (districts, cities, areas) heterogeneities existed. Temporal variations have been observed with an increase of Ae. albopictus population density over the years, and a seasonality effect with a highest population during the hot and wet season. Spatial clustering was observed at several scales with an important autocorrelation at the area scale. Moreover, the combination among these results and the breeding site productivity obtained during these 5 years allowed us to propose recommendations to monitor Aedes albopictus by eliminating not the most finding sites but the most productive ones. As the other strategies failed in La Reunion, this new approach should should work better.
MIVEGEC, Institut de Recherche pour le Developpement (IRD) UMR 224, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS 5290), Universités Montpellier 1 and 2, Montpellier, France;Centre de Recherche et de Veille sur les Maladies Emergentes dans l'Océan Indien (CRVOI), Sainte Clotilde, La Reunion Island, France;Unité d'Entomologie Médicale, Institut Pasteur de Madagascar, Antananarivo, Madagascar;Centre de Recherche et de Veille sur les Maladies Emergentes dans l'Océan Indien (CRVOI), Sainte Clotilde, La Reunion Island, France;GIP Service de prophylaxie renforcée, Service de Lutte antivecorielle, Agence Régionale de Santé de l'Océan Indien (ARS-OI), Saint Denis, La Reunion Island, France
Recommended Citation:
Sebastien Boyer,Coralie Foray,Jean-Sebastien Dehecq. Spatial and Temporal Heterogeneities of Aedes albopictus Density in La Reunion Island: Rise and Weakness of Entomological Indices[J]. PLOS ONE,2014-01-01,9(3)