:format(webp)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/grupoclarin/XUTHXKQ7HRB3PIHFZYSFZAB7H4.jpg "Researchers from Córdoba created a mosquito trap to help fight dengue")
Córdoba, like the rest of the country and the region, is going through a delicate dengue epidemic that has worsened greatly in recent weeks. Although disinfection and fumigation work is constant, experts reiterate that the most important way to fight mosquitoes is prevention to prevent it from proliferating.
In this context, a group of researchers from Conicet designed a trap so that the female mosquito lays its eggs and they can prevent their proliferation.
In dialogue with El Doce, Dr. Elizabet Estallo showed the trap they designed. It consists of a container with a strip of paper, without water.
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The researchers work together with some educational centers. “It is a citizen science project to involve the community in research projects,” the expert noted. Therefore, these containers are given to the students to place in their homes.
When they get home, they should put water in it to attract the mosquito. Then, they leave the trap outdoors. After a week they must take her back to school.
Elizabet Estallo, doctor from Conicet. (Courtesy El Doce)
The trap is then handed back to the researchers, who give a new container to the students. The idea is to remove mosquitoes from circulation, preventing their proliferation.
Each of these containers, in which the eggs are stored, can store up to 200. In fact, in observations through a special magnifying glass in the laboratory it was observed that some of these eggs had already hatched into larvae.
Dengue in Córdoba: climatic conditions and the human factor
On the other hand, Dr. Estallo stressed that the problem of dengue in Córdoba corresponds to a socio-environmental problem. “We provide places for the mosquito to breed.”
The expert indicated that the province has the climatic and environmental conditions for the mosquito to develop and grow. “The Aedes aegypti has been found in Córdoba for many years and reproduces because the female lays eggs in unused containers with water,” she reiterated.
“Prevention is the key and we should do it during the cold months, because otherwise spring arrives and the mosquito has all the conditions to live,” added the researcher.
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