Canadian engineers have created a device that lures mosquitoes in and captures hundreds of their eggs – a trap they say will be a game-changer in the global fight against Zika virus.
The device’s creators, Waterloo, Ont.’s Maxtech Consumers Products Ltd., say they’ve already donated $50,000 worth of the trap to Florida, where Miami is grappling with an outbreak of Zika. Their long-game plans are to work with Brazilian officials and other countries rocked by the mosquito-borne virus.
For months, global health officials have suspected a link between Zika virus and microcephaly in which newborns have irregularly small heads and underdeveloped brains.
Health officials in El Salvador, Brazil, Jamaica, Ecuador, Honduras and Colombia warned residents to delay pregnancy until doctors better understand if the infection tampers with brain development in infants.
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“No baby should be born like this. We shouldn’t have to worry about these kinds of things in day-to-day life,” Mark Smith, Maxtech’s project manager, told Global News.
“My daughter just got married last year and maybe she’ll have babies soon. We want to make sure everything is safe in this world for her and her children,” the company’s CEO, Kacee Vasudeva, said.
Maxtech’s mosquito preventer device was in the works for seven years before Zika virus was even on officials’ radar.
The engineering and technology company specializes in hand tools and power tools but also has a handful of patents in insect traps, such as catching fruit flies and bed bugs.
Its mosquito trap was designed to combat Dengue and chikungunya, but its arrival in the past year aligned perfectly with the fight against Zika. It’s the Aedes aegypti breed of mosquito that carries and transmits these diseases.
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It’s only female mosquitoes that bite and lay eggs. They have a life cycle of about 21 to 30 days and lay about 3,000 eggs, in batches of around 300, in their lifetime.
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But they don’t just lay their eggs in any still bodies of water – like any doting mom, they look for a safe space for their eggs.
This is where Maxtech’s device comes in. Using research developed out of Laurentian University, the device releases a scent that’s similar to the pheromone mosquitoes secrete once they’ve laid their eggs. This signals to other mosquitoes that others have laid eggs here, making it a secure spot.
Smith says this replicates an “artificial breeding zone.”
But once the eggs are laid, they’re drained into a filter that catches them. Because they’re no longer exposed to moisture in the trap, the eggs ultimately die.
“This is definitely a game-changer. You’ve got the [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] that has publicly said that spraying is ineffective and spraying has toxic chemicals. This is an all natural product and there’s nothing else like it on the market. It’s the only patented device that does this,” Smith said.
“We can catch every egg laid in the preventer,” he said, noting that the device leads to a “drastic decrease” in mosquitoes in the area.
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The company started selling the mosquito trap last year. It’s sold at Home Hardware and Canadian Tire for $349 and for $299 on Amazon for U.S. markets. For everyday consumers, it’s meant to keep away mosquitoes from their backyard decks, swimming pools, at the cottage or inside the house, for example.
But Maxtech sees the potential for broader usage. It’s already worked with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to send $50,000 worth of the device to Florida residents.
Zika has touched down in Miami – Florida already has 25 locally-acquired cases, meaning people are infected by mosquitoes within the region and not from travel to affected countries.
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Right now, Maxtech is working with local municipalities to make sure their donation is going to proper use. Ideally, the devices will be doled out to schools, homes, and neighbourhoods hardest hit by the Zika-carrying mosquitoes.
Smith said Maxtech tried to get the device to Brazil in time for the Olympics, but red tape with the country’s environmental laws are stalling the process.
The preventer could make a significant dent in the spread of Zika, especially with the latest findings in tow, Smith said.
The Aedes aegypti mosquitoes can pass the Zika virus to their eggs and offspring, latest research out of the University of Texas reported Monday.
Getting rid of larvae is crucial in curbing Zika’s reach, the scientists there say.
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“Since Zika virus has emerged as a global health emergency, most research has focused on the virus and its effects on humans. There is far less research on the virus in its mosquito host,” Dr. Robert Tesh, the study’s lead author, said.
“But if you want to control Zika, you also have to know about the behavior of this virus in mosquitoes,” he said.
Tech said that spraying affects adult mosquitoes but does nothing to kill eggs, so it’s not helping to eliminate the virus.
carmen.chai@globalnews.ca
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