Economic Evaluation of an Area-Wide Integrated Pest Management Program to Control the Asian Tiger Mosquito in New Jersey

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Abstract

Aedes albopictus is the most invasive mosquito in the world, an important disease vector, and a biting nuisance that limits outdoor activities. Area-wide integrated pest management (AW-IPM) is the recommended control strategy. We conducted an economic evaluation of the AW-IPM project in Mercer and Monmouth Counties, New Jersey with a controlled design (AW-IPM vs. control) from 2009 through 2011. The study analyzed financial documents and staff time for AW-IPM and surveyed an average of 415 randomly chosen households in AW-IPM and control areas each fall from 2008 through 2011. Hours lost from yard and porch activities were calculated as differences between actual and potential hours of these activities in an average summer week if there had been no mosquito concerns. Net estimated benefits of AW-IPM were based on cross-over and difference-in-difference analyses. Reductions in hours lost were valued based on respondents' willingness to pay for a hypothetical extra hour free of mosquitoes spent on yard or porch activities and literature on valuation of a quality adjusted life year (QALY). The incremental cost of AW-IPM per adult was $41.18 per year. Number of hours lost due to mosquitoes in AW-IPM areas between the base year (2008) and the intervention years (2009-2011) declined by 3.30 hours per summer week in AW-IPM areas compared to control areas. Survey respondents valued this improvement at $27.37 per adult per summer week. Over the 13-week summer, an average adult resident gained 42.96 hours of yard and porch time, worth $355.82. The net benefit over the summer was $314.63. With an average of 0.0027 QALYs gained per adult per year, AW-IPM was cost effective at $15,300 per QALY gained. The benefit-cost ratio from hours gained was 8.64, indicating that each $1 spent on AW-IPM gave adults additional porch and yard time worth over $8.

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Most cited references 19

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Critical review of the vector status of Aedes albopictus.

N G Gratz (2004)

The mosquito Aedes (Stegomyia) albopictus (Skuse) (Diptera: Culicidae), originally indigenous to South-east Asia, islands of the Western Pacific and Indian Ocean, has spread during recent decades to Africa, the mid-east, Europe and the Americas (north and south) after extending its range eastwards across Pacific islands during the early 20th century. The majority of introductions are apparently due to transportation of dormant eggs in tyres. Among public health authorities in the newly infested countries and those threatened with the introduction, there has been much concern that Ae. albopictus would lead to serious outbreaks of arbovirus diseases (Ae. albopictus is a competent vector for at least 22 arboviruses), notably dengue (all four serotypes) more commonly transmitted by Aedes (Stegomyia) aegypti (L.). Results of many laboratory studies have shown that many arboviruses are readily transmitted by Ae. albopictus to laboratory animals and birds, and have frequently been isolated from wild-caught mosquitoes of this species, particularly in the Americas. As Ae. albopictus continues to spread, displacing Ae. aegypti in some areas, and is anthropophilic throughout its range, it is important to review the literature and attempt to predict whether the medical risks are as great as have been expressed in scientific journals and the popular press. Examination of the extensive literature indicates that Ae. albopictus probably serves as a maintenance vector of dengue in rural areas of dengue-endemic countries of South-east Asia and Pacific islands. Also Ae. albopictus transmits dog heartworm Dirofilaria immitis (Leidy) (Spirurida: Onchocercidae) in South-east Asia, south-eastern U.S.A. and both D. immitis and Dirofilaria repens (Raillet & Henry) in Italy. Despite the frequent isolation of dengue viruses from wild-caught mosquitoes, there is no evidence that Ae. albopictus is an important urban vector of dengue, except in a limited number of countries where Ae. aegypti is absent, i.e. parts of China, the Seychelles, historically in Japan and most recently in Hawaii. Further research is needed on the dynamics of the interaction between Ae. albopictus and other Stegomyia species. Surveillance must also be maintained on the vectorial role of Ae. albopictus in countries endemic for dengue and other arboviruses (e.g. Chikungunya, EEE, Ross River, WNV, LaCrosse and other California group viruses), for which it would be competent and ecologically suited to serve as a bridge vector.

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Spread of the tiger: global risk of invasion by the mosquito Aedes albopictus.

Mark Q Benedict, Rebecca Levine, William A. Hawley … (2007)

Aedes albopictus, commonly known as the Asian tiger mosquito, is currently the most invasive mosquito in the world. It is of medical importance due to its aggressive daytime human-biting behavior and ability to vector many viruses, including dengue, LaCrosse, and West Nile. Invasions into new areas of its potential range are often initiated through the transportation of eggs via the international trade in used tires. We use a genetic algorithm, Genetic Algorithm for Rule Set Production (GARP), to determine the ecological niche of Ae. albopictus and predict a global ecological risk map for the continued spread of the species. We combine this analysis with risk due to importation of tires from infested countries and their proximity to countries that have already been invaded to develop a list of countries most at risk for future introductions and establishments. Methods used here have potential for predicting risks of future invasions of vectors or pathogens.

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What does the value of modern medicine say about the $50,000 per quality-adjusted life-year decision rule?

R Scott Braithwaite, David O Meltzer, Joseph T King … (2008)

In the United States, $50,000 per Quality-Adjusted Life-Year (QALY) is a decision rule that is often used to guide interpretation of cost-effectiveness analyses. However, many investigators have questioned the scientific basis of this rule, and it has not been updated. We used 2 separate approaches to investigate whether the $50,000 per QALY rule is consistent with current resource allocation decisions. To infer a lower bound for the decision rule, we estimated the incremental cost-effectiveness of recent (2003) versus pre-"modern era" (1950) medical care in the United States. To infer an upper bound for the decision rule, we estimated the incremental cost-effectiveness of unsubsidized health insurance versus self-pay for nonelderly adults (ages 21-64) without health insurance. We discounted both costs and benefits, following recommendations of the Panel on Cost-Effectiveness in Health and Medicine. Our base case analyses suggest that plausible lower and upper bounds for a cost-effectiveness decision rule are $183,000 per life-year and $264,000 per life-year, respectively. Our sensitivity analyses widen the plausible range (between $95,000 per life-year saved and $264,000 per life-year saved when we considered only health care's impact on quantity of life, and between $109,000 per QALY saved and $297,000 per QALY saved when we considered health care's impact on quality as well as quantity of life) but it remained substantially higher than $50,000 per QALY. It is very unlikely that $50,000 per QALY is consistent with societal preferences in the United States.

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Author and article information

Contributors

Kristin Michel: Role: Editor

Journal

Journal ID (nlm-ta): PLoS One

Journal ID (iso-abbrev): PLoS ONE

Journal ID (publisher-id): plos

Journal ID (pmc): plosone

Title: PLoS ONE

Publisher: Public Library of Science (San Francisco, USA )

ISSN (Electronic): 1932-6203

Publication date Collection: 2014

Publication date (Electronic): 22 October 2014

Volume: 9

Issue: 10

Electronic Location Identifier: e111014

Affiliations

[1 ]The Heller School for Social Policy and Management, Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts, United States of America

[2 ]Center for Vector Biology, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey, United States of America

[3 ]Mercer County Mosquito Control, West Trenton, New Jersey, United States of America

[4 ]Salt Lake City Mosquito Abatement District, Salt Lake City, Utah, United States of America

[5 ]Monmouth County Mosquito Extermination Commission, Eatontown, New Jersey, United States of America

[6 ]Department of Entomology, Louisiana State University Agricultural Center, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States of America

[7 ]Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture, Beltsville, Maryland, United States of America

[8 ]Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Seattle, Washington, United States of America

[9 ]Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture, Gainesville, Florida, United States of America

Kansas State University, United States of America

Author notes

* E-mail: shepard@ 123456brandeis.edu

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Conceived and designed the experiments: DSS YAH DMF AF SPH RG KBH GGC. Performed the experiments: DSS YAH DMF AF SPH RG KBH. Analyzed the data: DSS YAH DMF AF SPH. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: DSS YAH DMF AF SPH RG KBH GGC. Wrote the paper: DMF AF SPH RG DAS GGC. Provided critical revisions: DMF AF SPH RG DAS GGC. Obtained and administered funding for the study: DSS DMF RG DAS GGC.

Article

Publisher ID: PONE-D-14-28476

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0111014

PMC ID: 4206470

PubMed ID: 25338065

SO-VID: 856e16c0-b937-45b7-8ac3-39e91f2ad4a5

License:

This is an open-access article, free of all copyright, and may be freely reproduced, distributed, transmitted, modified, built upon, or otherwise used by anyone for any lawful purpose. The work is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication.

History

Date received : 25 June 2014

Date accepted : 18 September 2014

Page count

Pages: 11

Funding

This work was funded by Cooperative Agreement USDA-ARS-58-6615-8-105 to Brandeis University (PI: GGC; PI at Brandeis: DSS). Two authors (DAS and GGC) are employed by the sponsoring agency. However, all views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of their institutions nor of the sponsor. The sponsor, as an institution, had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

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Data Availability The authors confirm that, for approved reasons, some access restrictions apply to the data underlying the findings. Ethical considerations prevent public sharing of data. An anonymized data set can be obtained from the corresponding author, Prof. Donald Shepard (email: shepard@ 123456brandeis.edu ), upon request.

Economic Evaluation of an Area-Wide Integrated Pest Management Program to Control the Asian Tiger Mosquito in New Jersey

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