Tracking Insecticide Resistance in Mosquito Vectors of Arboviruses: The Worldwide Insecticide resistance Network (WIN)

Abstract

The transmission of the arboviral agents of dengue, yellow fever, Chikungunya, and Zika by Aedes mosquitoes represents expanding threats to global health. At the 69th World Health Assembly [1], the WHO Director-General Margaret Chan declared that the spread of the Zika virus was "the result of the abandon of mosquito control" by governments since the 1970s and urged Member States to mobilize more efforts and resources to prevent further spread of the diseases. The recent rise of microcephaly cases and other neurological disorders reported in Brazil prompted WHO to declare Zika as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern [2]. After limited early outbreaks in the Pacific in 2007 and 2013, the Zika virus has spread to more than 30 countries in the Americas and the Caribbean, affecting over 1.5 million people [3]. With growing evidence supporting the link between microcephaly and Zika [4, 5] and preliminary evidence confirming Aedes aegypti as the primary vector in the Brazilian outbreak [6], the mandate for control is clear and urgent.