193 - Survey of United States Mosquito Control Programs Reveals Opportunities to Improve the Operational Value of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Bottle Bioassays

Abstract: Mosquito control programs have increasingly used Centers for Disease Control and Prevention bottle bioassays (BB) to evaluate insecticide resistance (IR). The reported utility, benefits, and limitations of BB and other methods were assessed via electronic survey of United States mosquito control professionals to identify potential areas for improvement, future study, and professional training. Surveys were administered to 249 mosquito control professionals across the US with a resulting 29% (N=71) response rate. Most respondents (94%) indicated that bottle bioassays are useful/critical to their mosquito control programs (MCPs) and this should be considered when interpreting results. Opportunities were identified to improve BB operational value and IR detection. Clear universal guidelines should be developed for the practical use of bottle bioassay data as it relates to operational impacts in MCPs. Financial support or other assistance (e.g., regional collaboration with mosquito associations, industries, universities) may be needed for long-term IR testing and/or field trials.