GIS/GPS/Management
GIS/GPS/Management
The primary method for reducing mosquito-borne disease burden involves the use of insecticides for mosquito population control and reduction. However, overreliance and overuse of insecticides have led to the emergence and spread of insecticide resistance, such as knockdown resistance, thwarting traditional control efforts. This situation calls for strategic insecticide resistance management, including innovative approaches such as low-dose application or designated refugee areas free from insecticide exposure. These tactics aim to reduce insecticide resistance emergence and spread. A loftier goal is to restore the efficacy of current insecticides in the future, which would be especially helpful due to the costly and slow development of new insecticides. To investigate the efficacy of several insecticide application practices, we established 12 replicate Aedes aegypti mosquito populations consisting of a mixture of the knockdown resistant mutations V1016I and F1534C. Populations are exposed to one of four insecticidal applications each generation for ten generations: low-dose exposure, high-dose exposure, high-dose-refugee (50% exposure, 50% untreated), and untreated control. Mosquitoes are exposed to deltamethrin using a modified (enlarged) bottle bioassay. The resistance allele frequency for V1016I and F1534C is assessed across generations. The experiment is currently at generation three to six. Initial allele frequencies suggest the high-dose treatment results in the strongest increase in the V1016I mutation, and that the high-dose-refugee treatment results in a greater increase in the V1016I mutation than the low-dose treatment. This research holds significant promise toward identifying resistance management strategies effective (or not effective) at reducing selective pressure for insecticide resistance, which is necessary for informed mosquito control and mosquito-borne disease reduction via insecticides.