EHI supports vector surveillance and control operations conducted by the Regional Offices and other land agencies. As the national authority for mosquitoes, EHI analyses and identifies larvae samples collected by field officers. Resulting data is captured and stored for epidemiological investigation and ongoing research on vector genetics, behavior and distribution.

EHI also serves as a repository and reference for mosquitoes present in Singapore. Through years of collection from various habitats, it has accumulated a comprehensive collection of mosquitoes that are carefully catalogued and filed for easy reference.

The institute develops and evaluates vector control tools and strategies. Testing of the efficacy of insecticides and mosquito’s resistance to these pesticides are regularly carried out both in the laboratory and in the field to ensure that the insecticides used are effective in mosquito control.

EHI’s arthropod laboratory at containment level 3 allows experiments with infected mosquitoes. Virus replication rates in various species of mosquitoes are studied to determine the epidemic potential of the virus and vector. A comprehensive understanding of mosquito-pathogens interaction can thus be derived.