Zika virus: Mosquito trap created in Toronto could help fight outbreak

A new cheap and biodegradable mosquito trap inventedin Torontocould be used to help slow thespread of the Zika virus around the globe.

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The trapwas invented by Morgan and Jackson Wyatt,brothers from Brockville,Ont.,who made waves on CBC's Dragon's Den last year with their biodegradable compost bins.

Their company, Greenlid,has beendeveloping amosquito trapover the last year and a half withthe help of the government of Queensland, Australia, which is looking for a cheaper and less labour intensive alternative to mosquito population control.

The governmentthere hasplaced its first order of4,000 trapsin an effort to eradicate dengue fever, another mosquito-borne disease.

"With the onset ofZikabeing declared a global pandemic,it just became almost ano-brainerfor us that we should also look at addressing the issues of that disease in the same method,"GreenlidspokesmanAdilQawitold CBC News.

Just add water

The trapmade from the same long-lasting,but ultimatelybiodegradable, material as the Greenlid compost bin, and is coated with a layer of insecticide.

To useit, all you have to do isadd water.

"After a mosquito has a blood meal, or comes and bites you and sucks your blood, it has an incredible urge to go lay eggs,Morgan Wyatt told CBC News.

Thespecies of mosquitoes most notorious for spreading diseases like Zika and dengue fever like to lay their eggs in free-standing water.

"It will go and find our trap and then touch the insecticide and then end up dying," Wyatt said.

It's a new twist on a lethal ovitrap, plastic contraptions thatare used around the world to control mosquito populations.

But the Greenlid traps are cheaper they cost about $1-2 a pop and unlike their plastic counterparts,don't have to be collectedfour to six weeks after they've been setout.

'Novel approach'

Isaac Bogoch, an infectious diseases specialist at the Toronto General Hospital, says the devices have potential.

"It's certainly a novel approach and it sounds like it's a very good approach to controlling mosquito population," he said.

"From a cost-savings and cost-effectiveness standpoint, they might be very versatile and could be widely employed, especially in countries that are low income, countries that just might not have the resources for mosquito control efforts."

But, he added, it's not likely to eradicate the spread of mosquito illnesses on its own.

"This would be just onearm of amulti-prongedapproach to getting mosquito populations down," he said.

Going global

Greenlid is currently in talks with threeother countries to roll out its mosquito trap and says a global organization could be stepping in as a partner in the next few weeks.

"We're looking at various countries around South America and Asia. We're reaching out to government agencies, as well as NGOs," Qawi said.

The mosquito-borne Zika virus is drawing global attention due to its rapid spread and its possible connection to a rare neurological birth defectcalled microcephaly.

So far, there's no vaccine to preventtheZikavirus and no medication to treat it.