A survey of tire-breeding mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) in the Dominican Republic: Considerations about a pressing issue.

Introduction Discarded vehicle tires represent a serious threat both to the environment and to public health as they have the potential to harbor important mosquito (Diptera: Culicidae) vectors. Objective To assess the importance of used vehicle tires as larval habitats for mosquito fauna that colonize these artificial reservoirs in Jarabacoa, Dominican Republic. Materials and methods Used tires were sampled with pipettes at specialized tire fitting shops and scattered stockpiles of tires between June and August, 2018. Results We sampled 396 tires; 57 (Container Index=14.4%) were positive for immature stages and contained 2,400 specimens, 11 species, and four genera (Anopheles, Aedes, Culex, and Toxorhynchites). The most abundant species was Aedes albopictus (42.3%) followed by Aedes aegypti (34.3%), and Culex quinquefasciatus (14.0%) while other species (9.4%) were less abundant. The container index varied significantly among the different tire sizes (χ2=13.4; p≤0.05). The highest infestation levels were found in the largest tires. A low positive correlation (r=0.38, n=396; p≤0.001) between the tire size and the prevalence of immature stages was recorded. The presence of organic matter had an overall positive effect on the infestation levels (U=11,430.0; p≤0.001). Conclusions These rubber residues, usually located nearby human populations, represent suitable breeding sites for arboviruses vectors such as dengue, chikungunya, Zika, and West Nile.