Modeling mosquito population control by a coupled system

Releasing Wolbachia-infected mosquitoes to reduce wild mosquito population size is a novel and effective method to control the spread of mosquito-borne diseases. In this paper, we develop a coupled system of partial differential equations and ordinary differential equations to assess the efficiency of mosquito suppression based on the endosymbiotic bacterium Wolbachia. We present the basic reproduction number R-0 associated with the coupled system, as well as the existence and uniqueness of the positive equilibrium when R-0 > 1. We also analyze the asymptotic behaviors of the basic reproduction number with respect to the diffusion coefficient D, the advection constant nu and the release rate beta of Wolbachia-infected male mosquitoes. In addition, we consider the effects of the parameters D, nu and beta on the dynamic behaviors of the main model. Finally, we compare the suppression effects in both homogeneous and heterogeneous environments, and prove that the release proportion threshold in homogeneous environment is smaller. This suggests that the release amount of infected male mosquitoes derived in a homogeneous environment may lead to the failure of mosquito suppression. (c) 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

In this study, the efficiency of releasing Wolbachia-infected mosquitoes to reduce the wild mosquito population size and control mosquito-borne diseases was assessed using a coupled system of differential equations. The effects of diffusion coefficient, advection constant, and release rate of infected male mosquitoes on the suppression effectiveness were analyzed. A lower release proportion threshold in homogeneous environments was found, suggesting a potential failure of mosquito suppression when the amount of infected male mosquitoes released is derived in a homogeneous environment.