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© 2024 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.

Abstract

Simple Summary

Aedes, Culex, and Anopheles mosquitoes are the most prolific arthropod vectors of viral and parasitic agents of debilitating and lethal diseases in humans and animals. Despite some success in integrated pest management programs to control vectors, mosquito-borne diseases, such as dengue and dengue hemorrhagic fever, yellow fever, chikungunya, West Nile, and Zika, and parasitic diseases, such as malaria, lymphatic filariasis, and river blindness, continue to threaten the health and well-being of half the world’s population, many of whom live in economically and medically challenged societies. The perpetual problem inflicted by vector-borne diseases is compounded by the selection for resistance to synthetic pesticides, globalization, and climate change. The latter appears to be the most significant factor implicated in the geographic expansion of mosquitoes. Here, we present a review of these challenges and highlight traditional vector control strategies that employ synthetic pesticides, and “green” eco-friendly technologies that include SIT, IIT, RIDL, CRISPR/Cas9/Cas13 gene drive systems, and biological control, with an emphasis on Lysinibacillus sphaericus and Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. israelensis (Bti).

Abstract

Mosquitoes are the most notorious arthropod vectors of viral and parasitic diseases for which approximately half the world’s population, ~4,000,000,000, is at risk. Integrated pest management programs (IPMPs) have achieved some success in mitigating the regional transmission and persistence of these diseases. However, as many vector-borne diseases remain pervasive, it is obvious that IPMP successes have not been absolute in eradicating the threat imposed by mosquitoes. Moreover, the expanding mosquito geographic ranges caused by factors related to climate change and globalization (travel, trade, and migration), and the evolution of resistance to synthetic pesticides, present ongoing challenges to reducing or eliminating the local and global burden of these diseases, especially in economically and medically disadvantaged societies. Abatement strategies include the control of vector populations with synthetic pesticides and eco-friendly technologies. These “green” technologies include SIT, IIT, RIDL, CRISPR/Cas9 gene drive, and biological control that specifically targets the aquatic larval stages of mosquitoes. Regarding the latter, the most effective continues to be the widespread use of Lysinibacillus sphaericus (Ls) and Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. israelensis (Bti). Here, we present a review of the health issues elicited by vector mosquitoes, control strategies, and lastly, focus on the biology of Ls and Bti, with an emphasis on the latter, to which no resistance has been observed in the field.

Details

Title
The Perpetual Vector Mosquito Threat and Its Eco-Friendly Nemeses
Author
Leticia Silva Miranda 1 ; Rudd, Sarah Renee 2 ; Mena, Oscar 3 ; Piper Eden Hudspeth 3 ; Barboza-Corona, José E 4   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Park, Hyun-Woo 5   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Dennis Ken Bideshi 5   VIAFID ORCID Logo 

 Graduate Program in Biomedical Sciences, Department of Biological Sciences, California Baptist University, Riverside, CA 92504, USA; [email protected] (L.S.M.); or [email protected] (S.R.R.); [email protected] (H.-W.P.) 
 Graduate Program in Biomedical Sciences, Department of Biological Sciences, California Baptist University, Riverside, CA 92504, USA; [email protected] (L.S.M.); or [email protected] (S.R.R.); [email protected] (H.-W.P.); Integrated Biomedical Graduate Studies, and School of Medicine, Loma Linda University, Loma Linda, CA 92350, USA 
 Undergraduate Program in Biomedical Sciences, Department of Biological Sciences, California Baptist University, Riverside, CA 92504, USA; [email protected] (O.M.); [email protected] (P.E.H.) 
 Departmento de Alimentos, Posgrado en Biociencias, Universidad de Guanajuato Campus Irapuato-Salamanca, Irapuato 36500, Guanajuato, Mexico; [email protected] 
 Graduate Program in Biomedical Sciences, Department of Biological Sciences, California Baptist University, Riverside, CA 92504, USA; [email protected] (L.S.M.); or [email protected] (S.R.R.); [email protected] (H.-W.P.); Undergraduate Program in Biomedical Sciences, Department of Biological Sciences, California Baptist University, Riverside, CA 92504, USA; [email protected] (O.M.); [email protected] (P.E.H.) 
First page
182
Publication year
2024
Publication date
2024
Publisher
MDPI AG
e-ISSN
20797737
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
2997630823
Copyright
© 2024 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.