Understanding the role of temporal variation of environmental variables in predicting Aedes aegypti oviposition activity in a temperate region of Argentina.

Understanding the role of temporal variation of environmental variables in predicting Aedes aegypti oviposition activity in a temperate region of Argentina. Acta Trop. 2020 Nov 12;:105744 Authors: Benitez EM, Estallo EL, Grech MG, Frías-Céspedes M, Almirón WR, Robert MA, Ludueña-Almeida FF Abstract Environmental variables related to vegetation and weather are some of the most influential factors that impacting Aedes (Stegomya) aegypti, a mosquito vector of dengue, chikungunya and Zika viruses. In this paper, we aim to develop temporal predictive models for Ae. aegypti oviposition activity utilizing vegetation and meteorological variables as predictors in Córdoba city (Argentina). Eggs were collected using ovitraps placed throughout the city from 2009 to 2012 that were replaced weekly. Temporal generalized linear mixed models were developed with negative binomial distributions of errors that model average number of eggs collected weekly as a function of vegetation and meteorological variables with time lags. The best model included a vegetation index, vapor pressure of water, precipitation and photoperiod. With each unit of increment in vegetation index per week the average number of eggs increased by 1.71 in the third week. Furthermore, each millimeter increase of accumulated rain during 4 weeks was associated with a decrease of 0.668 in the average number of eggs found in the following week. This negative effect of precipitatio...
Source: Acta Tropica - Category: Infectious Diseases Authors: Tags: Acta Trop Source Type: research