Urban Ecology and the Effectiveness of Aedes Control

Past initiatives to control Aedes mosquitoes were successful, in part because they implemented draconian top-down control programs. To achieve similar results now, explicit recognition of the complexity in urban ecologies in terms of land ownership, law enforcement and accessibility for control interventions are required. By combining these attributes, four classes of spaces, along with corresponding control strategies, are suggested to better target Aedes species population control efforts. On one end of the spectrum there are accessible and accountable spaces (e.g. backyards and closely managed public facilities), where interventions can rely predominantly on bottom-up strategies with the local population playing the principle role in the implementation of actions, but with government coordination. On the other end of the spectrum are inaccessible and unaccountable spaces, which require top-down and extensive approaches. By identifying these and the intermediate classes of space, government and private resources can be allocated in a more efficient customized manner. Based on this new framework, a set of actions is proposed that might be implemented in dengue and other Aedes -borne crises. The framework considers existing limitations and opportunities associated with modern societies – which are fundamentally different from those associated with the successful control of Aedes species in the past.