New research has revealed that further intervention methods may be required to reduce the transmission of malaria throughout certain parts of Africa in order to combat the daytime-biting species of mosquito found there.
Over the last twenty years there have been huge reductions in transmission as part of the drive for global malaria elimination. Public health initiatives such as bed-nets and indoor spraying with insecticide are a major element in the fight against malaria, but in some areas, such as western Zambia, malaria prevalence remains high.
A team led by the University of Lincoln, UK, with Aberystwyth University and the University of Leeds, has worked with the Zambian Ministry of Health to gain more understanding on the relationship between malaria transmission and environment in Zambia’s Western Province. This vast area is home to around one million people and is seasonally flooded by the Zambezi river, creating a complex network of channels and wetlands.
Over three years, the team trapped mosquitos overnight in remote villages and waded in swamps to sample larvae. Mosquitoes were then identified using DNA techniques back in the laboratory. The outcomes of this research have recently been published in Scientific Reports.