Canadian Doctor Invents DIY Mosquito Trap Using Old Tire to Fight Zika Virus

According to a new study, a doctor from Canada has invented a DIY mosquito trap using an old tire. This invention can significantly decrease the mosquito populations to cut down the spread of Zika Virus.

This new invention called "ovillanta" was 7 times more effective than normal traps called ovitraps.

Zika virus disease is caused by Zika virus that is spread to people primarily through the bite of an infected Aedes species mosquito. The most common symptoms of Zika are fever, rash, joint pain, and conjunctivitis (red eyes).

In May 2015, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) issued an alert regarding the first confirmed Zika virus infection in Brazil.

No local mosquito-borne Zika virus disease cases have been reported in US states, but there have been travel-associated cases.

“We are now pivoting the project towards the Zika public health emergency,” said Terry Collins of Grand Challenges Canada, the organization that supported the project with funding from the Canadian government.

Using 84 ovillanta over a 10-month span in Guatemala, the researchers killed more than 18,000 Aedes mosquito eggs. The standard traps in the area, made of 1-liter buckets, only got around 2,700 eggs per month—seven times less than the ovillanta.

“While in its early days, this integrated innovation of a mosquito trap coupled with training local health workers and engaging communities in vector control is a promising example of how Canada’s leadership in development innovation can respond to public health emergencies such as Zika,” CEO of Grand Challenges Canada Dr. Peter A. Singer said.

A man and a woman in the Caribbean country of St. Lucia have locally got the Zika virus, which has been associated with hundreds of cases of a uncommon birth defect in Brazil, the first infections by the mosquito-borne virus in the island nation.

In the meantime FDA on Thursday said it will give the public another month to weigh in on a British company's request to release its genetically modified mosquitoes in the Florida Keys, a trial targeting to cut the number of insects that carry Zika virus.

Zika virus is transmitted to people primarily through the bite of an infected Aedes species mosquito (A. aegypti and A. albopictus). These are the same mosquitoes that spread dengue and chikungunya viruses.