Mosquito Mist Nets for the Surveillance of Disease Vectors

Krijn Paaijmans of the Barcelona Institute for Global Health in Spain will produce a sticky, electrically-charged net to trap a representative sample of live mosquitoes for estimating population structures and infection rates, which is needed for implementing control approaches. Current traps are often designed to sample mosquitoes at specific physiological stages such as egg-laying or when they are searching for food. They will electrostatically charge the netting and coat it with a range of adhesives, colors and patterns and test their ability to attract mosquitoes in the laboratory. Once a prototype has been developed they will compare its performance against other traps in a small field trial.