Pest control

Researchers working at the University of Adelaide have built a model to predict the population peaks of disease-carrying mosquitoes.

This should help the fight against outbreaks of serious mosquito-borne disease such as dengue and Ross River fever by allowing efficient and cost-effective mosquito control, said ecologist associate Prof Corey Bradshaw.

'The risk of disease transmission is highest when mosquitoes are at their most abundant,' said Bradshaw, who is from the university's School of Earth and Environmental Sciences and also employed as a senior scientist by the South Australian Research and Development Institute (SARDI).

'This model is a tool that helps predict when there is going to be a higher-than-average outbreak so that population control efforts can be implemented when they are going to be most effective and are most needed.'

The University of Adelaide researchers analysed 15 years of population data of Aedes vigilax, the northern Australian mosquito that transmits the Ross River and Barmah Forest viruses, and compared it with environmental factors affecting populations including tides and rainfall.