Development and evaluation of a novel contamination device that targets multiple life-stages of Aedes aegypti.

Background: The increasing global threat of Dengue demands new and easily applicable vector control methods. Ovitraps provide a low-tech and inexpensive means to combat Dengue vectors. Here we describe the development and optimization process of a novel contamination device that targets multiple life-stages of the Aedes aegypti mosquito.

Airflow attenuation and bed net utilization: observations from Africa and Asia.

Background/methods: Qualitative studies suggest that bed nets affect the thermal comfort of users. To understand and reduce this discomfort the effect of bed nets on temperature, humidity, and airflow was measured in rural homes in Asia and Africa, as well as in an experimental wind tunnel. Two investigators with architectural training selected 60 houses in The Gambia, Tanzania, Philippines, and Thailand.

The entomopathogenic fungus Beauveria bassiana reduces instantaneous blood feeding in wild multi-insecticide-resistant Culex quinquefasciatus mosquitoes in Benin, West Africa.

Background: Mosquito-borne diseases are still a major health risk in many developing countries, and the emergence of multi-insecticide-resistant mosquitoes is threatening the future of vector control. Therefore, new tools that can manage resistant mosquitoes are required. Laboratory studies show that entomopathogenic fungi can kill insecticide-resistant malaria vectors but this needs to be verified in the field.

Impact of promoting longer-lasting insecticide treatment of bed nets upon malaria transmission in a rural Tanzanian setting with pre-existing high coverage of untreated nets.

Background: The communities of Namawala and Idete villages in southern Tanzania experienced extremely high malaria transmission in the 1990s. By 2001-03, following high usage rates (75% of all age groups) of untreated bed nets, a 4.2-fold reduction in malaria transmission intensity was achieved.

Cultured skin microbiota attracts malaria mosquitoes.

Background: Host-seeking of the African malaria mosquito, Anopheles gambiae sensu stricto, is guided by human odours. The precise nature of the odours, and the composition of attractive blends of volatiles, remains largely unknown. Skin microbiota plays an important role in the production of human body odours.

Clarification of anomalies in the application of a 2La molecular karyotyping method for the malaria vector Anopheles gambiae.

Background: Chromosomal inversions have been considered to be potentially important barriers to gene flow in many groups of animals through their effect on recombination suppression in heterokaryotypic individuals. Inversions can also enhance local adaptation in different groups of organisms and may often represent species-specific differences among closely related taxa. We conducted a study to characterize the 2La inversion karyotypes of An.

Establishment of a large semi-field system for experimental study of African malaria vector ecology and control in Tanzania.

Background: Medical entomologists increasingly recognize that the ability to make inferences between laboratory experiments of vector biology and epidemiological trends observed in the field is hindered by a conceptual and methodological gap occurring between these approaches which prevents hypothesis-driven empirical research from being conducted on relatively large and environmentally realistic scales. The development of Semi-Field Systems (SFS) has been proposed as the best mechanism for bridging this gap. Semi-field systems are defined as enclosed environments, ideally situated within the natural ecosystem of a target disease vector and exposed to ambient environmental conditions, in which all features necessary for its life cycle completion are present.

A 15N stable isotope semen label to detect mating in the malaria mosquito Anopheles arabiensis Patton.

In previous studies it was determined that the stable isotope 13-carbon can be used as a semen label to detect mating events in the malaria mosquito Anopheles arabiensis. In this paper we describe the use of an additional stable isotope, 15-nitrogen (15N), for that same purpose. Both stable isotopes can be analysed simultaneously in a mass spectrometer, offering the possibility to detect both labels in one sample in order to study complex and difficult-to-detect mating events, such as multiple mating.

A stable isotope dual-labelling approach to detect multiple insemination in un-irradiated and irradiated Anopheles arabiensis mosquitoes.

Background: In the context of a Sterile Insect Technique programme, the occurrence of multiple insemination in the malaria mosquito Anopheles arabiensis Patton was studied using a novel labelling system with the stable isotopes 15N and 13C. The incidence of multiple insemination in the absence of radiation, and when males were irradiated in the pupal stage and competed against un-irradiated males were assessed. Males used in the experiments were labelled with either 15N or 13C and the label was applied to the larval rearing water.

Daily oviposition patterns of the African malaria mosquito Anopheles gambiae Giles (Diptera: Culicidae) on different types of aqueous substrates.

BACKGROUND: Anopheles gambiae Giles is the most important vector of human malaria in sub-Saharan Africa. Knowledge of the factors that influence its daily oviposition pattern is crucial if field interventions targeting gravid females are to be successful. This laboratory study investigated the effect of oviposition substrate and time of blood feeding on daily oviposition patterns of An.

Allomonal effect of breath contributes to differential attractiveness of humans to the African malaria vector Anopheles gambiae.

BACKGROUND: Removal of exhaled air from total body emanations or artificially standardising carbon dioxide (CO2) outputs has previously been shown to eliminate differential attractiveness of humans to certain blackfly (Simuliidae) and mosquito (Culicidae) species. Whether or not breath contributes to between-person differences in relative attractiveness to the highly anthropophilic malaria vector Anopheles gambiae sensu stricto remains unknown and was the focus of the present study. METHODS: The contribution to and possible interaction of breath (BR) and body odours (BO) in the attraction of An.