Elevating larval source management as a key strategy for controlling malaria and other vector-borne diseases in Africa.

Larval source management (LSM) has a long history of advocacy and successes but is rarely adopted where funds are limited. The World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines on malaria prevention recommend the use of LSM as a supplementary intervention to the core vector control methods (insecticide-treated nets and indoor residual spraying), arguing that its feasibility in many settings can be limited by larval habitats being numerous, transient, and difficult to find or treat. Another key argument is that there is insufficient high-quality evidence for its effectiveness to support wide-scale implementation.

A shot in the foot: Could chemical control of malaria vectors threaten food security?

Overwhelmingly, contemporary malaria vector control equals the use of chemical pesticides (through insecticide-treated bednets or indoor residual spraying). Gradually, but surely, we have become enslaved to thinking that controlling malaria mosquitoes equals the use of chemical insecticides, and much of the vector control field today is dominated by scientists, lobbyists, chemical companies, funding agencies and (global) institutions that endlessly repeat this dogmatic belief. Although chemical control has undoubtedly saved millions of lives, which, morally speaking would immediately justify its continued use, it has many sides that may ultimately cost more lives than it saves.

Rapid Elimination of and Mosquitoes from Puerco Island, Palawan, Philippines with Odor-Baited Traps.

Globalization and climate change are key drivers for arboviral and parasitic infectious diseases to expand geographically, posing a growing threat to human health and biodiversity. New non-pesticidal approaches are urgently needed because of increasing insecticide resistance and the negative human and environmental health impacts of synthetic pyrethroids used for fogging. Here, we report the complete and rapid removal of two mosquito species ( L.

[Exotic mosquito species in the Netherlands].

Since 2005, in a growing number of Dutch municipalities, increasing numbers of six exotic mosquito species have been reported. To prevent incursions, the Government has introduced policies that so far have not alleviated the problem. Populations of the Asian bush mosquito in Flevoland, Urk and parts of southern Limburg are now firmly established.

Mass Trapping and Larval Source Management for Mosquito Elimination on Small Maldivian Islands.

Globally, environmental impacts and insecticide resistance are forcing pest control organizations to adopt eco-friendly and insecticide-free alternatives to reduce the risk of mosquito-borne diseases, which affect millions of people, such as dengue, chikungunya or Zika virus. We used, for the first time, a combination of human odor-baited mosquito traps (at 6.0 traps/ha), oviposition traps (7.

Eave tubes for malaria control in Africa: prototyping and evaluation against Anopheles gambiae s.s. and Anopheles arabiensis under semi-field conditions in western Kenya.

Background: Whilst significant progress has been made in the fight against malaria, vector control continues to rely on just two insecticidal methods, i.e., indoor residual spraying and insecticidal bed nets.

Eave tubes for malaria control in Africa: Videographic observations of mosquito behaviour in Tanzania with a simple and rugged video surveillance system.

Background: Eave tubes are novel mosquito control devices that help to protect households against malaria vectors and other mosquitoes. They are installed in the upper walls of human habitations after the eaves have been closed. Mosquitoes trying to enter through these tubes are intercepted by electrostatic netting that can be treated with a variety of insecticides.

Eave tubes for malaria control in Africa: initial development and semi-field evaluations in Tanzania.

Background: Presented here are a series of preliminary experiments evaluating "eave tubes"-a technology that combines house screening with a novel method of delivering insecticides for control of malaria mosquitoes.

Methods: Eave tubes were first evaluated with overnight release and recapture of mosquitoes in a screened compartment containing a hut and human sleeper. Recapture numbers were used as a proxy for overnight survival.

Eave tubes for malaria control in Africa: an introduction.

In spite of massive progress in the control of African malaria since the turn of the century, there is a clear and recognized need for additional tools beyond long-lasting insecticide-treated bed nets (LLINs) and indoor residual spraying (IRS) of insecticides, to progress towards elimination. Moreover, widespread and intensifying insecticide resistance requires alternative control agents and delivery systems to enable development of effective insecticide resistance management strategies. This series of articles presents a novel concept for malaria vector control, the 'eave tube', which may fulfil these important criteria.

Electrostatic coating enhances bioavailability of insecticides and breaks pyrethroid resistance in mosquitoes.

Insecticide resistance poses a significant and increasing threat to the control of malaria and other mosquito-borne diseases. We present a novel method of insecticide application based on netting treated with an electrostatic coating that binds insecticidal particles through polarity. Electrostatic netting can hold small amounts of insecticides effectively and results in enhanced bioavailability upon contact by the insect.

Colonization of malaria vectors under semi-field conditions as a strategy for maintaining genetic and phenotypic similarity with wild populations.

Background: Malaria still accounts for an estimated 207 million cases and 627,000 deaths worldwide each year. One proposed approach to complement existing malaria control methods is the release of genetically-modified (GM) and/or sterile male mosquitoes. As opposed to laboratory colonization, this requires realistic semi field systems to produce males that can compete for females in nature.

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.

Review: Improving our knowledge of male mosquito biology in relation to genetic control programmes.

The enormous burden placed on populations worldwide by mosquito-borne diseases, most notably malaria and dengue, is currently being tackled by the use of insecticides sprayed in residences or applied to bednets, and in the case of dengue vectors through reduction of larval breeding sites or larviciding with insecticides thereof. However, these methods are under threat from, amongst other issues, the development of insecticide resistance and the practical difficulty of maintaining long-term community-wide efforts. The sterile insect technique (SIT), whose success hinges on having a good understanding of the biology and behaviour of the male mosquito, is an additional weapon in the limited arsenal against mosquito vectors.

Geographic coincidence of increased malaria transmission hazard and vulnerability occurring at the periphery of two Tanzanian villages.

Background: The goal of malaria elimination necessitates an improved understanding of any fine-scale geographic variations in transmission risk so that complementary vector control tools can be integrated into current vector control programmes as supplementary measures that are spatially targeted to maximize impact upon residual transmission. This study examines the distribution of host-seeking malaria vectors at households within two villages in rural Tanzania.

Methods: Host-seeking mosquitoes were sampled from 72 randomly selected households in two villages on a monthly basis throughout 2008 using CDC light-traps placed beside occupied nets.

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.

Population genetic structure of Anopheles arabiensis and Anopheles gambiae in a malaria endemic region of southern Tanzania.

Background: Genetic diversity is a key factor that enables adaptation and persistence of natural populations towards environmental conditions. It is influenced by the interaction of a natural population's dynamics and the environment it inhabits. Anopheles gambiae s.

Development of fungal applications on netting substrates for malaria vector control.

Mosquito resistance to chemical insecticides is considered a serious threat for the sustainable use of contemporary malaria vector control methods. Fungal entomopathogens show potential as alternative biological control agents against (insecticide-resistant) anophelines. This study was designed to test whether the fungus, Beauveria bassiana, could be delivered to mosquitoes on netting materials that might be used in house screens, such as eave curtains.

Linking individual phenotype to density-dependent population growth: the influence of body size on the population dynamics of malaria vectors.

Understanding the endogenous factors that drive the population dynamics of malaria mosquitoes will facilitate more accurate predictions about vector control effectiveness and our ability to destabilize the growth of either low- or high-density insect populations. We assessed whether variation in phenotypic traits predict the dynamics of Anopheles gambiae sensu lato mosquitoes, the most important vectors of human malaria. Anopheles gambiae dynamics were monitored over a six-month period of seasonal growth and decline.

First report of the infection of insecticide-resistant malaria vector mosquitoes with an entomopathogenic fungus under field conditions.

Background: Insecticide-resistant mosquitoes are compromising the ability of current mosquito control tools to control malaria vectors. A proposed new approach for mosquito control is to use entomopathogenic fungi. These fungi have been shown to be lethal to both insecticide-susceptible and insecticide-resistant mosquitoes under laboratory conditions.

Establishment of a self-propagating population of the African malaria vector Anopheles arabiensis under semi-field conditions.

Background: The successful control of insect disease vectors relies on a thorough understanding of their ecology and behaviour. However, knowledge of the ecology of many human disease vectors lags behind that of agricultural pests. This is partially due to the paucity of experimental tools for investigating their ecology under natural conditions without risk of exposure to disease.

Infection of Anopheles gambiae mosquitoes with entomopathogenic fungi: effect of host age and blood-feeding status.

Physiological characteristics of insects can influence their susceptibility to fungal infection of which age and nutritional status are among the most important. An understanding of host-pathogen interaction with respect to these physiological characteristics of the host is essential if we are to develop fungal formulations capable of reducing malaria transmission under field conditions. Here, two independent bioassays were conducted to study the effect of age and blood-feeding status on fungal infection and survival of Anopheles gambiae s.

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.