Due to urbanization, global travel and exchanges and climate change, the burden of malaria, dengue, Zika and other mosquito-borne diseases is an important public health problems worldwide. The situation is agravated by the rapid and global expansion of the invasive tiger mosquito (which has rapidly progressed in Europe in recent years).
The risk is becoming important even in mainland France as is indicated in the recent report from the ANSES that considers that there is a quite high risk of having an epidemics in the next five years (https://www.anses.fr/fr/system/files/ASE2022SA0146RA.pdf or https://www.anses.fr/fr/content/maladies-transmises-moustique-tigre-quels-risques-et-impacts for a short presentation of the problem)
Most dengue control programmes today rely on conventional mosquito abatement methods that are resource intensive and often unsustainable since the insecticides pollute the environment and severely impact biodiversity. Moreover, mosquito vectors rapidly develop insecticide resistance which reduces control effectiveness.
Alternative methods for disease vector population control are thus an essential part of epidemic prevention worldwide, in particular for mosquito-borne diseases. Among these novel control methods, the sterile and incompatible insect techniques (SIT, IIT) and replacement strategies are gaining a big interest in the scientific community.
In this talk we will see some mathematical models for disease vector population control and how mathematics can be used to conceive robust control strategies or optimize the intervention cost while minimizing its environmental impact. Similar models can also be used in agro-ecology for pest control.
