Vector

Abstract: Dengue is just regular flu but also kills many people all around the world. We all happen to know that dengue viruses have been on the march for the last 100 years. During the late 20th century, it became a serious threat to mankind. Our scientists have been putting their utmost efforts to save people from dengue infections. They have come up with a number of vaccinations and mosquito repellent solutions. According to the recent survey on dengue from The World health organization, 400 million people have been getting infected with dengue around the globe. Approximately 100 million people have been getting severely sick from the infection and 22,000 died from severe dengue. There are a large number of private and social sectors making solutions for preventing bites from mosquitos. This master thesis collaborates with SLU, which is a research institute at Alnarp, Sweden, focusing on Vector disease control. The mission for the thesis was to take advantage of the existing mosquito attractant(blend) to explore the efficiency with mosquito baiting station design. Our mutual goal was simple. We wanted to provide design solutions to people where they see and build it by themself. Experiments were conducted, in order to find the optimal design solution as well as the placement of mosquito attractants in the prototype for the better attraction of mosquitoes. As a part of my thesis work, I have personally made my own mosquito colony. Starting from collecting the mosquito egg, store them into a container with distilled water, feed them, feed them more when it becomes a larva, collect the pupa before they hatch into adults, and keep them in a tray with mosquito net. All these activities need to be conducted at a certain temperature. Since these mosquitoes are likely found in tropical regions, the lab maintains the same temperature and humidity as similar to a tropical region. The experiments were conducted in different ways. Based on the results, I have come up with the design parameters as well as the placement of the mosquito attractant. Test prototypes were made for further experiments and design exploration.