College of Agriculture & Natural Resources

Permanent URI for this communityhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/1598

The collections in this community comprise faculty research works, as well as graduate theses and dissertations.

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Linking socioeconomic factors to mosquito control in residential Washington, D.C.
(2011) Dowling, Zara; Leisnham, Paul T; Environmental Science and Technology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
Urban larval mosquito control strategies include elimination of aboveground water-holding containers by private residents (`source reduction') and larviciding of belowground storm drains and utility manholes. Effective source reduction is dependent on public education campaigns that identify key sources of mosquitoes, target at-risk neighborhoods, and create an informed and motivated citizenry. I conducted 242 yard surveys for mosquito larval habitats paired with Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice (KAP) questionnaires administered to residents in six socioeconomically-diverse neighborhoods in the greater Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, and sampled 201 belowground habitats adjacent to these households. In chapter 2, I analyze associations between resident socioeconomic status, knowledge, attitudes, practices and mosquito indices. In chapter 3, I examine variations in larval habitat quality, quantity and type across neighborhoods of differing socioeconomic status. In chapter 4, I compare larval populations in aboveground and belowground habitats. The implications for educational literature and mosquito management are discussed.