In a recent note in Chemical and Engineering News*, Pryanka Runwal reported on a paper presented by Dr. Brian Foy of Colorado State University at the American Society for Tropical Medicine and Infectious Diseases Conference, on November 14th 2024, in New Orleans
The paper described an innovative approach to suppress Culex mosquitos that transmit West Nile virus. Foy and collaborators coated birdseed with ivermectin incorporated in an inert polymer. The seed was made available to wild Passerine birds in garden feeders. Blood levels of ivermectin measured in captured birds were adequate to kill mosquitos feeding on these reservoirs of arborviruses. Mosquito populations were reduced with detectable levels of ivermectin as determined among insects trapped in the vicinity of the 40 feeders that received treated feed.
*Runwal, P., Coated Seeds May Make Birds Mosquito-Killing Machines. C&EN, November 25, 2024