A Survey on Mosquito Control Knowledge and Insecticide Use in New Orleans, La, 2020-2021.

Mosquitoes are a known public nuisance and can vector various diseases. Historically, New Orleans, LA, has long been acquainted with the burden of mosquito-borne diseases, such as malaria and yellow fever in the 20th century and West Nile virus in the 21st century. Government mosquito control awareness campaigns have been around for decades as has the use of organophosphate and pyrethroid insecticides by mosquito abatement districts. However, few data are available on public perception of mosquito control and public usage of insecticides to kill mosquitoes in New Orleans. We conducted a survey from August 2020 to July 2021 to evaluate New Orleans residents' 1) general knowledge regarding mosquito control and 2) what measures and products they use to control mosquitoes. The aim of this survey was to determine how residents contribute to backyard mosquito control by do-it-yourself or professional applications of insecticides. The survey was disseminated both online and via mail. Of the 396 survey participants, nearly all (99.48%) agreed that mosquito control is important in New Orleans because it prevents mosquito bites (30.85%), prevents mosquito borne-diseases (38.51%), and prevents nuisance mosquitoes (29.17%). More than one-third (35%) of survey participants indicated that they empty containers to reduce adult mosquitoes on their own property. More than two-thirds of the participants (69.95%) would not hire a pest management professional to spray their yard for adult mosquitoes, and only 20% of survey participants do apply a pesticide to kill adult mosquitoes on their own property. None of our findings were associated with the level of education, gender, or age of participants. This study suggests that the City of New Orleans Mosquito, Termite and Rodent Control Board educational and outreach campaigns may be an effective tool in spreading mosquito control awareness and contribute to residents' knowledge of mosquito control. The data we collected indicate that residents understand what mosquito control is and why it is important in New Orleans.

A SURVEY ON MOSQUITO CONTROL KNOWLEDGE AND INSECTICIDE USE IN NEW ORLEANS, LA, 2020-2021.

Mosquitoes are a known public nuisance and can vector various diseases. Historically, New Orleans, LA, has long been acquainted with the burden of mosquito-borne diseases, such as malaria and yellow fever in the 20th century and West Nile virus in the 21st century. Government mosquito control awareness campaigns have been around for decades as has the use of organophosphate and pyrethroid insecticides by mosquito abatement districts. However, few data are available on public perception of mosquito control and public usage of insecticides to kill mosquitoes in New Orleans. We conducted a survey from August 2020 to July 2021 to evaluate New Orleans residents' 1) general knowledge regarding mosquito control and 2) what measures and products they use to control mosquitoes. The aim of this survey was to determine how residents contribute to backyard mosquito control by do-it-yourself or professional applications of insecticides. The survey was disseminated both online and via mail. Of the 396 survey participants, nearly all (99.48%) agreed that mosquito control is important in New Orleans because it prevents mosquito bites (30.85%), prevents mosquito borne-diseases (38.51%), and prevents nuisance mosquitoes (29.17%). More than one-third (35%) of survey participants indicated that they empty containers to reduce adult mosquitoes on their own property. More than two-thirds of the participants (69.95%) would not hire a pest management professional to spray their yard for adult mosquitoes, and only 20% of survey participants do apply a pesticide to kill adult mosquitoes on their own property. None of our findings were associated with the level of education, gender, or age of participants. This study suggests that the City of New Orleans Mosquito, Termite and Rodent Control Board educational and outreach campaigns may be an effective tool in spreading mosquito control awareness and contribute to residents' knowledge of mosquito control. The data we collected indicate that residents understand what mosquito control is and why it is important in New Orleans.

Field Trials to Evaluate the Effectiveness of the Biogents®-Sweetscent Lure in Combination with Several Commercial Mosquito Traps and to Assess the Effectiveness of the Biogents-Mosquitaire Trap with and Without Carbon Dioxide.

A series of field experiments was conducted in Florida, California, and Louisiana in order to investigate whether adding the Biogents® (BG)-Sweetscent lure to several commercially available mosquito traps increases their Aedes albopictus catch rates and to evaluate the BG-Mosquitaire trap with and without CO2. Adding the BG-Sweetscent to the SkeeterVac Bite-Guard SVE6211, MosClean UV LED (ultraviolet light-emitting diode), Flowtron® Galaxie PV 75, Dynatrap® DT2000XL, Bite Shield Protector, and Black Flag® BZ-40 increased their Ae. albopictus catch rates up to 4.2-fold. The catch rates of the BG-Mosquitaire and the BG-Sentinel did not differ significantly for Ae. aegypti and Culex quinquefasciatus. The BG-Mosquitaire without CO2 and only with BG-Sweetscent caught 1.2 times more Ae. albopictus than the CO2- and Lurex3-baited Mosquito Magnet® Patriot and 2.6 times more than the CO2- and Sweetscent-baited SkeeterVac, respectively. The BG-Mosquitaire baited with Sweetscent and CO2 collected 6.8 times more Ae. albopictus than the Mosquito Magnet Patriot and 11.9 times more than the SkeeterVac. We conclude that BG-Sweetscent increases the tiger mosquito catch rates of many commercially available mosquito traps. We proved that the BG-Mosquitaire is as efficient as the well-known BG-Sentinel and that it can outperform mosquito traps that are baited with propane-generated CO2.