Aedes breeding control — DTM&H MCQ
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Correct answer: E — Remove or cover container water sources
The correct answer is E, remove or cover container water sources. Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus, the dengue vectors, are container breeders that lay eggs in small collections of clean, stagnant water such as discarded tyres, buckets and blocked gutters, exactly the habitats identified on larval survey in this vignette. Source reduction (emptying, covering, or destroying these artificial containers) removes the larval habitat directly and is the cornerstone environmental management measure recommended for Aedes-borne outbreak control, since there is no routine vaccine-based herd protection and no specific antiviral treatment. This matches UK travel and health security guidance advising residents in endemic or outbreak areas to eliminate stagnant water in containers, gutters and rubbish around dwellings to cut transmission. Why the other options are wrong: D. Cull domestic dogs: dogs are not a reservoir or vector for dengue virus, which is transmitted human to mosquito to human; culling dogs has no epidemiological basis in dengue control. B. Drain rice paddies exclusively: rice paddies are typical Anopheles (malaria vector) habitats, not Aedes container habitats, and restricting action to paddies ignores the actual survey finding of container breeding around houses. A. Treat fast-flowing rivers: Aedes mosquitoes require still, stagnant water to breed; fast-flowing rivers are unsuitable larval habitats and are irrelevant to the identified source. C. Mass ivermectin for residents: ivermectin has no established role in dengue prevention or treatment; it targets helminths and some ectoparasites, not flavivirus infection or its mosquito vector. Key point: Because dengue vectors breed in small artificial water containers around the home, outbreak prophylaxis centres on source reduction, removing or covering containers such as tyres, buckets and gutters, rather than measures aimed at other habitats or organisms.
Reference: NaTHNaC/UKHSA TravelHealthPro, Dengue factsheet: advice to remove rubbish or water containers close to the home as they can be breeding sites for mosquitoes (updated 2026), https://travelhealthpro.org.uk/factsheet/13/dengue