ADULT AEDES MOSQUITO AND DENGUE VIRUS SURVEILLANCE IN RESIDENTIAL AND PUBLIC AREAS OF SELANGOR, MALAYSIA

Dengue infection is an important public health problem in Selangor, Malaysia, and its incidence may vary by location. We aimed to determine and compare the density of Aedes mosquitoes and dengue virus in public and residential areas in Selangor, Malaysia in order to inform dengue control programs on where to place resources to control this public health problem. This study was conducted in all 9 districts of Selangor during 2014-2016. We used a Selangor Sticky Trap method, described in the paper, to collect mosquitoes in 421 locations, both residential and public. We performed a dengue NS1 antigen test on each of the Aedes mosquitoes collected to determine the presence of dengue virus. A total of 85.5% of sampled locations in the residential areas had Aedes mosquitoes, of which 15.7% had a positive dengue NS1 antigen test. A total of 84.4% of sampled locations in public areas had Aedes mosquitoes, of which 15.0% had a positive dengue NS1 antigen test. There were no significant differences in percentages of locations with Aedes mosquitoes or mosquitoes positive for the NS1 antigen between residential and public areas surveyed (p>0.05). Among public areas, Aedes mosquitoes were most often detected in commercial areas, railway stations and recreational areas. The above findings are concerning and suggest that control measures must be evenly divided between public and residential areas. The relatively high percentage of dengue-infected mosquitoes in public areas is concerning, since the likelihood of spread is greater in these areas, resulting in spread to previously uninfected residential areas.