The organophosphate temephos has been the main insecticide used against larvae of the dengue and yellow fever mosquito (Aedes aegypti) in Brazil since the mid-1980s. Reports of resistance date back to 1995; however, no systematic reports of widespread temephos resistance have occurred to date. As resistance investigation is paramount for strategic decision-making by health officials, our objective here was to investigate the spatial and temporal spread of temephos resistance in Ae. aegypti in Brazil for the last 12 years using discriminating temephos concentrations and the bioassay protocols of the World Health Organization. The mortality results obtained were subjected to spatial analysis for distance interpolation using semi-variance models to generate maps that depict the spread of temephos resistance in Brazil since 1999. The problem has been expanding. Since 2002-2003, approximately half the country has exhibited mosquito populations resistant to temephos. The frequency of temephos resistance and, likely, control failures, which start when the insecticide mortality level drops below 80%, has increased even further since 2004. Few parts of Brazil are able to achieve the target 80% efficacy threshold by 2010/2011, resulting in a significant risk of control failure by temephos in most of the country. The widespread resistance to temephos in Brazilian Ae. aegypti populations greatly compromise effective mosquito control efforts using this insecticide and indicates the urgent need to identify alternative insecticides aided by the preventive elimination of potential mosquito breeding sites.

Associadas a fatores bióticos, climáticos e culturais que favorecem a proliferação do Aedes aegypti em ecossistemas urbanos, adaptações evolutivas à hematofagia freqüente e quase exclusiva em humanos e à colonização de tipos infinitos de habitats, fazem deste mosquito um disseminador extremamente eficiente de patógenos ao homem. Estudos utilizando métodos sensíveis de monitoramento demonstram que os métodos de vigilância usados no programa brasileiro não revelam as elevadas intensidades da infestação das cidades por este vetor. Para ampliar a capacidade do setor de saúde novos instrumentos são necessários à prática da vigilância, incorporando aspectos do vetor, do lugar e das pessoas do lugar. Apresentamos aqui o SMCP-Aedes - Sistema de Monitoramento e Controle Populacional do Ae. aegypti, cuja meta é a instrumentalização da vigilância entomológica como base para a vigilância epidemiológica da dengue. Para isso ele se apóia em tecnologias da informação espacial baseadas no uso intensivo da web e de software livre para coletar, armazenar, analisar e disseminar informações relativas à distribuição espaço-temporal da densidade estimada para a população do Aedes, com base em amostras obtidas continuamente com ovitrampas. Intervenções de controle planejadas e intensificadas onde e quando indicado pela vigilância entomológica, são pactuadas com os habitantes, apoiando-se na mobilização social permanente.

Aedes aegypti is a very efficient disseminator of human pathogens. This condition is the result of evolutionary adaptations to frequent haematophagy, as well as to the colonization of countless types of habitats associated with environmental and cultural factors that favor the proliferation of this mosquito in urban ecosystems. Studies using sensitive methods of monitoring demonstrate that the methods of surveillance used in the Brazilian program do not show the high degrees of the infestation of cities by this vector. To increase the capacity of the health sector, new tools are needed to the practice of surveillance, which incorporate aspects of the vector, place and human population. We describe here the SMCP-Aedes - Monitoring System and Population Control of Aedes aegypti, aiming to provide an entomological surveillance framework as a basis for epidemiological surveillance of dengue. The SMCP-Aedes is uphold in the space technology information, supported by the intensive use of the web and free software to collect, store, analyze and disseminate information on the spatial-temporal distribution of the estimated density for the population of Aedes, based on data systematically collected with the use of ovitraps. Planned control interventions, intensified where and when indicated by the entomological surveillance, are agreed with the communities, relying on the permanent social mobilization.

Pela primeira vez é registrada a presença do Aedes albopictus em remanescentes de Mata Atlântica, localizada em área urbana em Recife (Pernambuco, Brasil). As coletas foram realizadas em isca humana e em criadouros de formas jovens (ocos de árvores, bambus, bromélias e pneu). A presença de Ae. albopictus na região metropolitana do Recife representa um risco potencial do inter-relacionamento dessa espécie de mosquito com a população.

This is the first report of the presence of Aedes albopictus in the native rain forest, near the urban area of Recife (State of Pernambuco, Brazil). Adult female mosquitoes were collected using human bait. Mosquitoes in aquatic stages were looked for in treeholes, bamboos, bromeliads and old tires. The existence of Ae. albopictus in the metropolitan area of Recife poses a potential risk for the interaction of this mosquito species with the urban human population.

Pela primeira vez é registrada a presença do Aedes albopictus em remanescentes de Mata Atlântica, localizada em área urbana em Recife (Pernambuco, Brasil). As coletas foram realizadas em isca humana e em criadouros de formas jovens (ocos de árvores, bambus, bromélias e pneu). A presença de Ae. albopictus na região metropolitana do Recife representa um risco potencial do inter-relacionamento dessa espécie de mosquito com a população.

This is the first report of the presence of Aedes albopictus in the native rain forest, near the urban area of Recife (State of Pernambuco, Brazil). Adult female mosquitoes were collected using human bait. Mosquitoes in aquatic stages were looked for in treeholes, bamboos, bromeliads and old tires. The existence of Ae. albopictus in the metropolitan area of Recife poses a potential risk for the interaction of this mosquito species with the urban human population.

Bacillus spp. based larvides are increasingly replacing, with numerous advantages, chemical insecticides in programmes for controlling black fly and mosquito populations. Brazil was among the pioneers in adopting Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis (B.t.i) to control black flies. However, the major current mosquito control programme in Brazil, the Programme for Eradication of Aedes aegypti launched in 1997, only recently decided to replace temephos by B.t.i based larvicides, in the State of Rio de Janeiro. In the last decade, works developed by research groups in Brazilian institutions have generated a significant contribution to this subject through the isolation of B. sphaericus new strains, the development of new products and the implementation of field trials of Bacillus efficacy against mosquito species under different environmental conditions.