An Estimation of Potential Vector Control Effect of Gravid Mosquito Trapping in Fort Worth, Texas.

Entomological surveillance is an essential component for integrated vector management (IVM), the current best practice for West Nile virus (WNV) prevention and control. The significance of vector mosquito surveillance, however, is not always recognized by the public, which increases vulnerability of IVM programs to elimination or downsizing when virus activities are low, particularly during interepidemics of WNV. In order to increase public recognition, the unrecognized contribution of mosquito surveillance with gravid (egg-carrying) mosquito trapping to WNV vector control was estimated using a novel approach. This approach includes development of a quantitative model to estimate the number of female progeny from a gravid mosquito and application of the model with mosquito surveillance data to estimate the potential vector control effect of gravid mosquito trapping. Applying this approach, the potential WNV vector control effect of 2013 surveillance activities in Fort Worth, Texas, was estimated to almost 1,590,000 female mosquitoes by capturing 44,654 females.