The project “Mosquito control in cross-border area 2” is the result of cross-border cooperation between Croatia and Serbia. The leading partner is the Teaching Institute of Public Health of the Osijek-Baranja County, while the other partners are the Institute of Public Health Sombor, the Institute of Public Health of the Požega-Slavonia County, the “European Affairs” Fund of AP Vojvodina and the Institute of Public Health of Vojvodina. The implementation of the project has begun on March 15, 2021, and ends on March 14, 2023. The total budget of the project is EUR 984,670.78, of which the value of the donation is EUR 836,970.14.
In Požega, Croatia, on July 6, 2022, a round table was held for local self-government units of Požega-Slavonija County, where the attendees were presented with methods of ecological mosquito suppression, as well as new methods of mosquito suppression in this county.
Director Mato Matijević pointed out that the Institute of Public Health of Požega-Slavonia County has a total budget of around 220 thousand euros for this project. These are funds that will be used for the purchase of mosquito control equipment, as well as for the education of elementary school students, pensioners, health workers, and local self-government units. One of the most important goals of this project is the improvement of cross-border cooperation and the coordination of preventive activities in disease surveillance and control, as well as the establishment of an early warning system for the occurrence of diseases that are related to mosquitoes as vectors.
The project was presented to the attendees by master of biology and member of the project team of the Teaching Institute of Public Health of Osijek-Baranja County, Ivan Mihić, so that the representatives of the local self-government units were familiar with the measures that will be taken, with the equipment and accessories that will be used, as well as with the education of the primary health care that will be provided in the area of local self-government units.
In front of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention of the Institute of Public Health of Vojvodina, assistant Dr. Tatjana Pustahija, presented a lecture on malaria and other threatening diseases transmitted by mosquitoes. She pointed out that mosquitoes are vectors for the transmission of infectious diseases, while the reservoir, that is, the source of virus infection, are birds and, most often, migrant birds who change areas. She also presented diseases transmitted by mosquitoes that are a potential threat to public health both in our country and in neighboring countries.
The last lecture was presented by Master of Biology Hrvoje Bekina in front of the Teaching Institute of Public Health of Osijek-Baranja County on the topic of suppressing mosquitoes with environmental traps as well as positioning them to attract gravid females, e.g., “Aedes albopictus” species. The purpose of this trap, which is set in nature, is to attract a female mosquito so that she lays her eggs in it. He presented several traps intended for catching adult forms of mosquitoes, e.g., CDC trap designed to catch “Anopheles” and “Culex” species of mosquitoes. Finally, the BG-Sentinel trap, which is most often used for catching “Aedes albopictus” or “Aedes japonicus” species of mosquitoes, is presented. Since 2018, when the first data are available, in all municipalities and cities, there is the presence of these types of mosquitoes, which are otherwise the most common vectors in the transmission of infectious diseases.
An early warning system for the presence of infectious diseases transmitted by mosquitoes, as well as mosquito control methods, are a very important part of the education of health workers within the MOS-Cross2 project.
The project is co-financed by ERDF and IPA II funds of the European Union.