21% more mosquito breeding habitats destroyed in 2018 through use of Gravitrap system
Channel NewsAsia 23 Aug 19; SINGAPORE: The National Environment Agency (NEA) on Friday (Aug 23) said that its Gravitrap system - which is designed to attract and trap female Aedes mosquitoes looking for sites to lay their eggs - enabled it to detect and destroy 21 per cent more breeding habitats in 2018 compared to the previous year. Gravitraps have also been useful in helping NEA remove a large number of Aedes aegypti adult mosquitoes, including infected female mosquitoes, the agency said in a media release. About 50,000 Gravitraps have been deployed at Housing and Development Board (HDB) estates islandwide since NEA began using the system in 2017. Another 14,000 traps will be rolled out at landed estates and newly completed HDB areas from the second half of this year, NEA said. �Resource optimisation from such a data-driven surveillance system has also allowed NEA to re-deploy manpower for other urgent dengue prevention tasks,� it added. NEW INDICATOR ON AREAS WITH HIGHER MOSQUITO P...