44 - Bayamon Integrated Vector Management Demonstration Program

Abstract: Dengue is a major public health concern in Puerto Rico, accounting for over 95% of locally acquired cases in the United States and highlighting the need for targeted interventions. In Bayamon, a municipality in the Puerto Rico Metro Area, dengue hot spots were identified based on historical cases, with 75% of cases occurring in 25% of the geographic area. The PRVCU, in collaboration with the CDC and the municipality of Bayamon, proposed a dengue control program using an integrated strategy that includes mosquito control, community engagement, and surveillance. Targeted interventions focus on public housing, schools, and households in high-risk areas, with the .01 hot spot covering 26,000 houses and 38% of dengue cases from 2010-2014.

The primary goal is to assess the entomological and epidemiological outcomes of a large-scale IVM program. A key operational objective is to develop a scalable, sustainable management protocol that can be implemented in other Puerto Rican municipalities. In the first 35 weeks, 155 surveillance autocidal gravid ovitraps (SAGOs) were installed in 11 public housings projects, 20 SAGOs in five educational centers and 217 SAGOs in households. The main vector control intervention involved deploying 562 AGOs, source reduction, larvicide applications, and WALS in 400 acres around housing projects. Regarding the school component, five schools were selected for AGO installation, deploying over 1,700 traps in the campus and houses 150m surrounding. In households, clusters with higher abandoned housing density (350 acres) have been treated with WALS 11 times. Additionally, PRVCU began distributing passive emanators in hot spot areas, installing 8-10 emanators in the first 70 houses.

The Bayamon IVM Program aims to address current and future dengue outbreaks by leveraging data, stakeholder collaboration, and vector control strategies to protect the population.