Impact of nighttime human behavior on exposure to malaria vectors and effectiveness of using long-lasting insecticidal nets in the Ethiopian lowlands and highlands.

Background: Ethiopia continues to grapple with a persistent malaria burden, characterized by ongoing transmission and recurrent outbreaks. Human behavior influences both malaria exposure and the effectiveness of vector interventions, complicating malaria control efforts. Implementing tailored strategies that account for the complex interplay between human activities and vector behavior remains a challenge in both high- and low-transmission areas in Ethiopia, particularly for vulnerable highland populations and temporary labor migrants, due to lack of data.

The effect of novel mosquito bite prevention tools on Anopheles minimus landing and key secondary endpoints: semi-field evaluations in Thailand.

Background: The Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) aims to eliminate all human malaria by 2030 and is making substantial progress toward this goal, with malaria increasingly confined to forest foci. These transmission foci are predominantly inhabited by ethnic minorities, local populations, and rural mobile and migrant populations working in mining and agriculture. The recommendations of the World Health Organization (WHO) on malaria elimination states that small population groups which constitute a large proportion of the malaria transmission reservoir should benefit from targeted strategies to reduce transmission overall.

TIMESS a power analysis tool to estimate the number of locations and repeated measurements for seasonally and clustered mosquito surveys.

Every day, hundreds of mosquito surveys are carried out around the world to inform policy and management decisions on how best to reduce or prevent the burden of mosquito-borne disease or mosquito nuisance. These surveys are usually time consuming and expensive. Mosquito surveillance is the essential component of vector management and control.

Malaria risk factors amongst forest going populations in Mondulkiri Province and Kampong Speu Province, Cambodia: a large cross-sectional survey.

Background: Cambodia strives to eliminate all species of human malaria by 2025, requiring that foci among forest-exposed populations in remote settings be addressed. This study explores malaria risk factors amongst forest-exposed groups in Mondulkiri and Kampong Speu Provinces, Cambodia as part of a multi-stage study on novel bite prevention tools (Project BITE).

Methods: A serial cross-sectional survey explored the demographics, housing structure openness, mosquito bite prevention habits, and gaps in protection amongst three target groups: forest goers who work in the forest, forest dwellers who live in the forest, and forest rangers who patrol forested regions.

Field evaluation of a volatile pyrethroid spatial repellent and etofenprox treated clothing for outdoor protection against forest malaria vectors in Cambodia.

Cambodia's goal to eliminate malaria by 2025 is challenged by persistent transmission in forest and forest fringe areas, where people are exposed to Anopheles mosquito bites during the day and night. Volatile pyrethroid spatial repellents (VPSRs) and insecticide-treated clothing (ITC) could address these gaps. This study evaluated the outdoor application of one passive transfluthrin-based VPSR, four etofenprox-ITCs paired with a picaridin topical repellent, and a combination of VPSR and ITC against wild Anopheles landing in Cambodia.

Bionomic characterization of Anopheles mosquitoes in the Ethiopian highlands and lowlands.

Background: The protective effectiveness of vector control in malaria relies on how the implemented tools overlap with mosquito species-specific compositions and bionomic traits. In Ethiopia, targeted entomological data enabling strategic decision-making are lacking around high-risk migrant worker camps in the lowlands and resident communities in the highlands-resulting in suboptimal malaria control strategies for both populations. This study investigates spatial and temporal mosquito behavior, generating baseline evidence that will improve malaria control for both migrant workers in the lowlands and their home communities in the highlands.

Insecticide susceptibility status of Anopheles gambiae mosquitoes and the effect of pre-exposure to a piperonyl butoxide (PBO) synergist on resistance to deltamethrin in northern Namibia.

Background: Pyrethroid-based indoor residual spraying (IRS) and long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs) have been employed as key vector control measures against malaria in Namibia. However, pyrethroid resistance in Anopheles mosquitoes may compromise the efficacy of these interventions. To address this challenge, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends the use of piperonyl butoxide (PBO) LLINs in areas where pyrethroid resistance is confirmed to be mediated by mixed function oxidase (MFO).

Inference for entomological semi-field experiments: Fitting a mathematical model assessing personal and community protection of vector-control interventions.

The effectiveness of vector-control tools is often assessed by experiments as a reduction in mosquito landings using human landing catches (HLCs). However, HLCs alone only quantify a single characteristic and therefore do not provide information on the overall impacts of the intervention product. Using data from a recent semi-field study which used time-stratified HLCs, aspiration of non-landing mosquitoes, and blood feeding, we suggest a Bayesian inference approach for fitting such data to a stochastic model.

Baseline characterization of entomological drivers of malaria transmission in Namibia: a targeted operational entomological surveillance strategy.

Background: Namibia's focus on the elimination of malaria requires an evidence-based strategy directed at understanding and targeting the entomological drivers of malaria transmission. In 2018 and 2019, the Namibia National Vector-borne Diseases Control Program (NVDCP) implemented baseline entomological surveillance based on a question-based approach outlined in the Entomological Surveillance Planning Tool (ESPT). In the present study, we report on the findings of the ESPT-based NVDCP on baseline vector species composition and bionomic traits in malaria endemic regions in northern Namibia, which has the aim of generating an evidence base for programmatic decision-making.

A semi-field evaluation in Thailand of the use of human landing catches (HLC) versus human-baited double net trap (HDN) for assessing the impact of a volatile pyrethroid spatial repellent and pyrethroid-treated clothing on Anopheles minimus landing.

Background: The mosquito landing rate measured by human landing catches (HLC) is the conventional endpoint used to evaluate the impact of vector control interventions on human-vector exposure. Non-exposure based alternatives to the HLC are desirable to minimize the risk of accidental mosquito bites. One such alternative is the human-baited double net trap (HDN), but the estimated personal protection of interventions using the HDN has not been compared to the efficacy estimated using HLC.

Entomological Surveillance Planning Tool (ESPT)-generated actionable evidence on human and vector behaviours optimizes present interventions and reduces exposure to Anopheles vectors in two communities of Guna Yala, Panamá.

Background: Although most of Panamá is free from malaria, localized foci of transmission persist, including in the Guna Yala region. Government-led entomological surveillance using an Entomological Surveillance Planning Tool (ESPT) sought to answer programmatically relevant questions on local entomological drivers of transmission and gaps in protection to guide local vector control decision-making.

Methods: The ESPT was used to design a sampling plan to answer priority programmatic questions about the appropriateness of Long Lasting Insecticidal Nets (LLINs) and spaces and times where humans remain exposed to Anopheles bites (gaps in protection) in the communities of Permé and Puerto Obaldía, Guna Yala.

Human and vector behaviors determine exposure to Anopheles in Namibia.

Background: Although the Republic of Namibia has significantly reduced malaria transmission, regular outbreaks and persistent transmission impede progress towards elimination. Towards an understanding of the protective efficacy, as well as gaps in protection, associated with long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs), human and Anopheles behaviors were evaluated in parallel in three malaria endemic regions, Kavango East, Ohangwena and Zambezi, using the Entomological Surveillance Planning Tool to answer the question: where and when are humans being exposed to bites of Anopheles mosquitoes?

Methods: Surveillance activities were conducted during the malaria transmission season in March 2018 for eight consecutive nights. Four sentinel structures per site were selected, and human landing catches and human behavior observations were consented to for a total of 32 collection nights per site.

Anopheles drivers of persisting malaria transmission in Guna Yala, Panamá: an operational investigation.

Background: Though most of Panamá is free from malaria, localized foci of transmission persist, including in the Guna Yala region. Government-led entomological surveillance using an entomological surveillance planning tool (ESPT) sought to answer programmatically-relevant questions that would enhance the understanding of both local entomological drivers of transmission and gaps in protection that result in persisting malaria transmission to guide local vector control decision-making.

Methods: The ESPT was used to design a sampling plan centered around the collection of minimum essential indicators to investigate the relevance of LLINs and IRS in the communities of Permé and Puerto Obaldía, Guna Yala, as well as to pinpoint any remaining spaces and times where humans are exposed to Anopheles bites (gaps in protection).

Rhamphomyia Meigen of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, Greenland and Iceland (Diptera: Empididae).

Rhamphomyia of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, Greenland and Iceland, comprising 23 species, including five new species, are revised: R. (Ctenempis) albopilosa Coquillett, R. (Dasyrhamphomyia) erinacioides Malloch, R.

New Record of Wyeomyia mitchellii (Diptera: Culicidae) on Guam, United States.

Wyeomyia (Wyeomyia) mitchellii (Theobald) (Diptera: Culicidae) was recovered for the first time on Guam, United States of America, in 2017. Larval specimens were collected from water-filled axils of bromeliads during a larval survey carried out in a residential neighborhood of the Chalan Pago/Ordot area. Native to the New World, Wy.

Assessing the Risk Factors Associated with Malaria in the Highlands of Ethiopia: What Do We Need to Know?

Malaria has been Ethiopia's predominant communicable disease for decades. Following the catastrophic malaria outbreak in 2003⁻2004, the Federal Ministry of Health (FMoH) took drastic public health actions to lower the burden of malaria. The FMoH achieved significant declines in malaria mortality and incidence, and recently declared its objective to achieve malaria elimination in low malaria transmission areas of Ethiopia by 2020.