Source Reduction Behavior as an Independent Measurement of the Impact of a Public Health Education Campaign in an Integrated Vector Management Program for the Asian Tiger Mosquito

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health

Kristen Bartlett-Healy⁴  George Hamilton³  Sean Healy¹  Taryn Crepeau¹  Isik Unlu⁵  Ary Farajollahi⁵  Dina Fonseca⁴  Randy Gaugler⁴  Gary G. Clark² 

[1] Monmouth County Mosquito Extermination Commission, P.O. Box 162, Eatontown, NJ 07724, USA; E-Mails:;Center for Medical, Agricultural, and Veterinary Entomology, United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS), 1600 SW 23rd Drive, Gainesville, FL 32608, USA; E-Mail:;Department of Entomology, Rutgers University, 96 Lipman Drive, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, USA; E-Mail:;Center for Vector Biology, Rutgers University, 180 Jones Avenue, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, USA; E-Mails:;Mercer County Mosquito Control, 300 Scotch Road, West Trenton, NJ 08628, USA; E-Mails:

关键词: Asian tiger mosquito;    Aedes albopictus;    public health education;    source reduction;   

DOI  :  10.3390/ijerph8051358

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

The goal of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a public health educational campaign to reduce backyard mosquito-larval habitats. Three communities each, within two New Jersey counties, were randomly selected to receive: (1) both education and mosquito control, (2) education only, and (3) no education or mosquito control. Four separate educational events included a 5-day elementary school curriculum in the spring, and three door to door distributions of educational brochures. Before and after each educational event, the numbers of mosquito-larval container habitats were counted in 50 randomly selected homes per study area. Container surveys allowed us to measure source reduction behavior. Although we saw reductions in container habitats in sites receiving education, they were not significantly different from the control. Our results suggest that traditional passive means of public education, which were often considered the gold standard for mosquito control programs, are not sufficient to motivate residents to reduce backyard mosquito-larval habitats.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2011 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.