Tire shops in Miami-Dade County, Florida are important producers of vector mosquitoes

Human mobility in urban environments is a central part of urbanization and has determined the layout of how cities are projected, built and renovated. One of the most problematic issues of urbanization is how to properly dispose of used tires, considering the worldwide annual production of approximately 1.4 billion units every year. Despite the efforts to properly dispose of used tires, they still represent a major problem for public health, notably serving as potential breeding sites for vector mosquitoes. Miami-Dade County, Florida has been suffering from arbovirus outbreaks for decades, including dengue, West Nile and yellow fever viruses. The objective of this study was to survey tire shops inserted in the urban matrix across Miami-Dade County for the presence of vector mosquitoes. This study used a cross-sectional design to survey the production of vector mosquitoes at 12 tires shops. Mosquitoes were found in all but one of the tires shops surveyed. We collected a total of 1,110 mosquitoes comprising 528 adults and 582 immatures. Aedes aegypti and Culex quinquefasciatus were abundantly found in both their immature and adult forms, constituting 99.99% of the mosquito samples collected. Aedes aegypti was the most abundant species recorded displaying the highest values in the Shannon and Simpson indices. The findings of this study demonstrate that vector mosquitoes, primarily Ae. aegypti, are being produced in tires shops in Miami indicating these habitats are highly favorable breeding environments for the production of vector mosquitoes and emphasizing the need to address how the abundance and presence of mosquitoes may vary seasonally in these environments.

城市环境中的人类移动是城市化进程的核心组成部分，也决定了城市规划、建设与改造的布局逻辑。
城市化进程中最棘手的问题之一，便是废旧轮胎的合规处置——当前全球每年废旧轮胎产量约达14亿条。尽管各方已尝试对废旧轮胎进行妥善处置，但它们仍是威胁公共卫生的重大隐患，尤其会成为病媒蚊子（vector mosquitoes）的潜在滋生地。
数十年来，佛罗里达州迈阿密-戴德县始终受虫媒病毒暴发疫情困扰，涉及登革热病毒、西尼罗河病毒与黄热病病毒等。
本研究的目标为：针对迈阿密-戴德县全域城市区域内的轮胎经营店，开展病媒蚊子滋生情况的调查。
本研究采用横断面研究设计，对12家轮胎店的病媒蚊子滋生情况展开调查。
本次调查的12家轮胎店中，仅1家未检出蚊子。
本次共采集到蚊子1110只，其中成虫528只、未成熟个体582只。
埃及伊蚊（Aedes aegypti）与致倦库蚊（Culex quinquefasciatus）在成虫与幼态阶段均大量存在，占本次采集蚊类样本总量的99.99%。
埃及伊蚊是本次调查中丰度最高的蚊种，在香农指数与辛普森指数中均取得最高值。
本研究结果表明，迈阿密地区的轮胎店内滋生有大量病媒蚊子，其中以埃及伊蚊为主；这说明此类生境是病媒蚊子极为适宜的滋生环境，同时也凸显了针对性研究此类环境中蚊子丰度与分布的季节变化规律的必要性。