As the Zika fight goes on, some methods of vector control like genetically modified mosquitoes and aerial spraying have sparked controversy. However, the new trap being used in Miami is a decidedly low-tech device designed to attract female Aedes mosquitoes and contaminate their eggs.
The Aedes aegypti mosquito can be difficult to kill because it lives close to homes, has developed some resistance to pesticides and females breed across dozens of different sites. The In2Care trap lures female Aedes mosquitoes with a special scent and access to a seemingly preferable breeding environment — these mosquitoes prefer to breed in manmade containers in dark places.
“This looks like a flower pot, and you know, it’s a standard container. But this piece of black plastic has a lot of innovation behind it,” Raoul Persad, an employee with Univar,the company that distributes the In2Care traps in the U.S., Caribbean and Latin America, told NPR.
The In2Care trap consists of a lid, central tube, click-on interface, a reservoir and a gauze strip saturated with a powerful larvicide and a fungal compound that kills the female mosquito after 10 days.
The EPA approved the traps for sale to mosquito control agencies in regions with local Zika transmission. According to NPR, In2Care believes the traps will prove most beneficial when they are approved for open sale to the public, possibly by the end of the year.
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