Pupal-productivity surveys to identify the key container habitats of Aedes aegypti (L.) in Barranquilla, the principal seaport of Colombia

Abstract

Surveys were conducted in three neighbourhoods of Barranquilla, the main seaport of Colombia, to identify, using counts of pupae in water containers during the wet and dry seasons, the most productive Aedes aegypti breeding sites. Overall, 3433 premises were investigated in the wet season and 3563 in the dry, representing, respectively, 82.3% and 84.6% of the total numbers of premises in the study areas. Despite a reasonably reliable supply of piped water, there were still some large storage containers for domestic water (cement ground tanks and plastic, metal and cement drums) in the area. Although such containers represented only 1.8%–16.3% of the total number of containers observed, they contributed 72.0%–78.2% and 65.0%–95.8% of the total Ae. aegypti pupal population in the three study neighbourhoods during the wet and dry seasons, respectively. In contrast, bottles represented 23.0%–88.9% of the total number of containers but produced no more than 0.1% of the total Ae aegypti pupal populations in these neighbourhoods. Other containers (tyres, vases, 'other discarded' and 'other used') generally produced only low numbers of pupae. In some settings, however, containers in the 'other discarded' category could contribute up to 19% of the total pupal population, and in one survey of one neigbourhood a single container in this category held 9.1% of all the pupae collected. These results, from a city where dengue fever is endemic, will help to focus local campaigns for Ae. aegypti source-reduction on the most productive categories of container.