Malaria elimination in Ghana: recommendations for reactive case detection strategy implementation in a low endemic area of Asutsuare, Ghana.

Background: Progress toward malaria elimination is increasing as many countries near zero indigenous malaria cases. In settings nearing elimination, interventions will be most effective at interrupting transmission when targeted at the residual foci of transmission. These foci may be missed due to asymptomatic infections.

Reactive Case Detection Strategy for Malaria Control and Elimination: A 12 Year Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis from 25 Malaria-Endemic Countries.

Reactive case detection (RACD) is the screening of household members and neighbors of index cases reported in passive surveillance. This strategy seeks asymptomatic infections and provides treatment to break transmission without testing or treating the entire population. This review discusses and highlights RACD as a recommended strategy for the detection and elimination of asymptomatic malaria as it pertains in different countries.

Reactive case detection of Plasmodium falciparum in western Kenya highlands: effective in identifying additional cases, yet limited effect on transmission.

Background: Identifying asymptomatic reservoirs of malaria parasites using index cases as entry points into the community is potentially a cost-effective way towards achieving malaria elimination.

Methods: Within 1 year, 1430 confirmed malaria cases were identified in Marani hospital, western Kenya. Fifty cases were followed up, and 108 index case household members and 612 neighbours within a 100 m radius were screened.

The epidemiology of lymphatic filariasis in Ghana, explained by the possible existence of two strains of Wuchereria bancrofti.

Introduction: Lymphatic filariasis is a debilitating disease caused by the filarial worm Wuchereria bancrofti. It is earmarked for elimination by the year 2020 through the Global Program for the Elimination of LF (GPELF). In Ghana, mass treatment has been on-going since the year 2000.

The ecology of mosquitoes in an irrigated vegetable farm in Kumasi, Ghana: abundance, productivity and survivorship.

Background: Irrigated vegetable farms within the city of Kumasi, Ghana, create hotspots for the breeding of malaria vectors, which could lead to high transmission of malaria. This study investigated the abundance and productivity of mosquitoes in an irrigated vegetable farm in Kumasi, Ghana.

Methods: Adult mosquito productivity was estimated five days in a week in different irrigated scheme types (dug-out wells, furrows and footprints) for 12 weeks using emergence traps.

Variation in exposure to Anopheles gambiae salivary gland peptide (gSG6-P1) across different malaria transmission settings in the western Kenya highlands.

Background: The existing metrics of malaria transmission are limited in sensitivity under low transmission intensity. Robust surveillance systems are needed as interventions to monitor reduced transmission and prevention of rapid reintroduction. Serological tools based on antibody responses to parasite and vector antigens are potential tools for transmission measurements.

Deforestation and vectorial capacity of Anopheles gambiae Giles mosquitoes in malaria transmission, Kenya.

We investigated the effects of deforestation on microclimates and sporogonic development of Plasmodium falciparum parasites in Anopheles gambiae mosquitoes in an area of the western Kenyan highland prone to malaria epidemics. An. gambiae mosquitoes were fed with P.

Life-table analysis of Anopheles arabiensis in western Kenya highlands: effects of land covers on larval and adult survivorship.

In high-elevation areas in western Kenya, the abundance of Anopheles arabiensis is either very low or absent. The western Kenya highlands (an area with an elevation > 1,500m above sea level) have also been experiencing extensive deforestation, and deforestation has been suggested as one of the important factors that facilitate malaria transmission in the highlands. This study investigated whether climate conditions in the western Kenya highlands (Kakamega, elevation 1,500 m above sea level) were permissive to the development and survival of An.

Effects of microclimatic changes caused by deforestation on the survivorship and reproductive fitness of Anopheles gambiae in western Kenya highlands.

Land use changes have been suggested as one of the causes for malaria epidemics in the African highlands. This study investigated the effects of deforestation-induced changes in indoor temperature on the survivorship and reproductive fitness of Anopheles gambiae in an epidemic prone area in the western Kenya highlands. We found that the mean indoor temperatures of houses located in the deforested area were 1.

Effects of microclimatic changes caused by land use and land cover on duration of gonotrophic cycles of Anopheles gambiae (Diptera: Culicidae) in western Kenya highlands.

Studies were carried out at a malaria epidemic-prone highland site in western Kenya to determine the effects of deforestation-caused microclimate change on the duration of the gonotrophic cycle of the malaria vector Anopheles gambiae Giles. Gonotrophic cycle duration was measured using field-collected F1 A. gambiae females.