A revolutionary breakthrough to combat dengue fever mosquitoes without using insecticides
Wageningen, The Netherlands —February 19, 2013—
In2Care today announces the launch of the In2Care® Mosquito Trap, a revolutionary concept to combat dengue mosquitoes without using insecticides. The In2Care® Mosquito Trap is a new weapon against dengue fever, the fastest spreading infectious disease in the tropics with 100 million cases per year and 2.5 billion people at risk. There are no drugs or vaccine available so prevention of mosquito bites and active mosquito control remain the sole strategies to curb transmission of the virus.
The In2Care® Mosquito Trap is a unique mosquito control concept that integrates a novel trap with a customer-focused service component. The trap is the first to exploit the unique egg-laying behavior of the dengue mosquito by using it to disseminate a control agent from the trap to other breeding sites that inhibits larval development. The In2Care® Mosquito Trap concept lends itself perfectly for use by pest control companies and government agencies in countries were dengue occurs.
“Insecticide resistance has become a major problem in countries infested by dengue mosquitoes. Extensive use of organophosphates and pyrethroids has led to widespread problems and has rendered these chemicals virtually useless,” said Dr. Bart Knols, In2Care’s Chief Innovation Officer. “This necessitates the switch to biological control, which is more sustainable, environmentally friendly, and poses no health risk to consumers. We believe that ingenuity and exploitation of the mosquito’s natural behaviour holds the key to successful interventions that can replace drastic measures like area-wide insecticide application through fogging that has proven limited efficacy and major impact on non-target organisms.”
The In2Care® Mosquito Trap (patent pending) is made of durable polyethylene, and consists of a lid, central tube, reservoir and ground pin. A floater moves along the central tube with the water level and serves as the landing or resting site for mosquitoes. Female mosquitoes are attracted to the In2Trap by adding an attractive odour to the water reservoir. When a female enters the trap she lands on the floater covered with a gauze cylinder (patented) that binds biological control agents with specific modes of action. All powders are in use for pest control and are WHO-recommended and/or US-EPA approved.
Combined, these biological agents:
- Kill all the larvae inside the trap
- Are carried by females to other breeding sites
- Are effective at extremely low concentrations
- Kill exposed mosquitoes after 8-10 days
- Stop virus development in the mosquito
This unique mix of novel biological agents on the small floater surface in the protective In2Care® Mosquito Trap environment allows for a cost-effective deployment of high application doses, which enhances effective contamination and infection durability. Depending on local climate conditions, powders need to be replaced and water added at 1-2 month intervals.
The In2Care® Mosquito Trap was developed with dengue mosquitoes directly collected from the field in Caribbean. Numerous experiments were conducted to ascertain the attractiveness of the trap, the ability of mosquitoes to acquire the powders, the efficacy of transfer of powder particles to other breeding sites, and the potency of these to kill the adult mosquito.
In2Care is further exploiting this concept and is currently developing an alternative for DDT indoor residual spraying against malaria mosquitoes.
For more information, please visit www.in2care.org/product/in2trap/
Media Contact
Dr. Bart Knols
In2Care
e-mail: media at in2care dot org