Fuzzy Logic Estimation of Mosquito Populations in Homes in Kibera Slums, Nairobi, Kenya

Mosquito-borne diseases have killed more people than all wars combined. Various Integrated Vector Management (IVM) methods have been used to reduce the risk of these diseases by reducing the population of mosquitoes, e.g. insecticides, bed nets, repellents, traps. New technologies have been developed using attractant toxic sugar baits, such as the ProVector Flower [1]. The ProVector® system uses an Entobac, a honey formulated with Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis (BTI) to attract and kill adult mosquitoes. The adult mosquitoes ingest the BTI and die within 3 to 7 days. If the adult mosquitoes die and land in larvae breeding sites, the larvae are also eliminated [2]. Entobac is nontoxic and is the only pesticide which kills both adult and larvae mosquitoes. Conducting population studies of mosquitoes can be time consuming and expensive, particularly when conducting international studies. One system used to estimate mosquito numbers uses surveys of heads-of-house-holds using levels of annoyance [3]. This study identifies a new method of estimating mosquito populations based upon lingual descriptors provided by the local citizens of the Kibera Slums, Nairobi, Kenya.