New mosquito traps are being tested at Brisbane International Airport to prevent the spread of serious mosquito-borne diseases such as dengue fever, chikungunya and Zika virus.
The traps target aggressive exotic mosquitoes like the Asian tiger mosquito and the yellow fever mosquito.
Imported from the USA, the Hamer traps are designed to capture mosquitoes that breed in underground drains and water storage infrastructure which can be difficult to access.
The trial, led by the Vector Monitoring Program (VMP) team, was initiated after a single Asian tiger mosquito was detected at the airport.
Following continued surveillance, several domestic mosquitoes were found caught in one trap over several weeks. This indicates that the mosquitoes were coming from an underground breeding site located in a drain, which could not be accessed.
This also presented a risk that more Asian tiger mosquitoes and other exotic mosquitoes could enter and become established at the same site.
In mid-June, three Hamer traps were deployed on the drains which feed a large subterranean catch basin that’s suitable for mosquito breeding. In mid-July two more were deployed.
Testing the effectiveness of the traps and monitoring the mosquito population emerging from these habitats will continue into the summer months. So far, the results are promising with several domestic mosquitoes captured.
