Esterase-Mediated Pyrethroid Resistance in Populations of an Invasive Malaria Vector from Ethiopia.

Background: The swift expansion of the invasive malaria vector throughout Africa presents a major challenge to malaria control initiatives. Unlike the native African vectors, thrives in urban settings and has developed resistance to multiple classes of insecticides, including pyrethroids, organophosphates, and carbamates.

Methods: Insecticide susceptibility tests were performed on field-collected mosquitoes from Awash Sebac Kilo, Ethiopia, to assess insecticide resistance levels.

Insecticide susceptibility status of Anopheles stephensi against novel insecticides in Eastern Ethiopia.

Background: Anoph known to be local malaria vector in South East Asia but recently found expanding to the horn of Africa including urban areas of Ethiopia. Recent studies indicated that high level of insecticide resistance to pyrethroid (Deltamethrin, permethrin and alpha-cypermethrin), Carbamates (Bendiocarb and Propoxur) and organophosphates (pirimiphos-methyl). The aim, of this study was to evaluate the susceptibility of from Diredawa against broflanilide, chlorfenapyr, clothianidin and pyriproxyfen.

Profiling vivax malaria incidence, residual transmission, and risk factors using reactive case detection in low transmission settings of Ethiopia.

Background: Identification of local Plasmodium vivax transmission foci and its hidden reservoirs are crucial to eliminating residual vivax malaria transmission. This study assessed whether reactive case detection (RCD) could better identify P. vivax cases and infection incidences in Arjo-Didessa, Southwestern Ethiopia.

Bionomics and distribution of malaria vectors in Kisumu city, Western Kenya: Implications for urban malaria transmission.

Background: Increasing urbanization in tropical Africa may create new niches for malaria vectors, potentially leading to higher disease transmission rates. Vector control efforts remain largely targeted at ecologically rural bio-complexities with multiple hosts. Understanding mosquito species composition, ecology, host diversity and biting behavior in urban areas is crucial for planning effective control.

High Seroprevalence to -borne arboviruses in Ethiopia: a Cross-sectional Survey in 2024.

-borne diseases infect millions of people each year. In the last decade several arbovirus outbreaks have been reported in Ethiopia. Arbovirus diagnosis and surveillance is lacking and the true burden is unknown.

A cross-sectional study investigating malaria prevalence and associated predictors of infection among migrants to a newly established gold mining settlement in the Gambella Region of Ethiopia.

Background: Malaria is a major disease burden in Ethiopia. Migration can influence malaria transmission dynamics, with individuals relocating from malaria-free highland regions to malarious lowlands potentially facing elevated risks of contracting malaria. Migrants may find it difficult to protect themselves against malaria and have limited access to diagnosis or treatment.

Resurgence of Clinical Malaria in Ethiopia and Its Link to Invasion.

The invasion of into Africa poses a potential threat to malaria control and elimination on the continent. However, it is not clear if the recent malaria resurgence in Ethiopia has linked to the expansion of . We obtained the clinical malaria case reports and malaria intervention data from the Ethiopian Ministry of Health (MoH) for the period 2001-2022.

The effect of single low-dose primaquine treatment for uncomplicated Plasmodium falciparum malaria on haemoglobin levels in Ethiopia: a longitudinal cohort study.

Background: To interrupt residual malaria transmission and achieve successful elimination of Plasmodium falciparum in low-transmission settings, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends the administration of a single dose of 0.25 mg/kg (or 15 mg/kg for adults) primaquine (PQ) combined with artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT), without glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) testing. However, due to the risk of haemolysis in patients with G6PD deficiency (G6PDd), PQ use is uncommon.

Resurgence of Clinical Malaria in Ethiopia in the Era of Anopheles stephensi Invasion.

Background: The invasion of into Africa poses a potential threat to malaria control and elimination on the continent. However, it is not clear if the recent malaria resurgence in Ethiopia has linked to the expansion of . We aimed to summarize the major achievements and lesson learnt in malaria control in Ethiopia from 2001 to 2022, to assess the new challenges and prospects for the control of .

The effect of single low-dose primaquine treatment for uncomplicated Plasmodium falciparum malaria on hemoglobin levels in Ethiopia: a longitudinal cohort study.

Background: To interrupt residual malaria transmission and achieve successful elimination of in low-transmission settings, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends the administration of a single dose of 0.25 mg/kg (or 15 mg/kg for adults) primaquine (PQ) combined with artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) without glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) testing. However, due to the risk of hemolysis in patients with G6PD deficiency (G6PDd), PQ use is not as common.

Epidemiology of Plasmodium vivax in Duffy negatives and Duffy positives from community and health centre collections in Ethiopia.

Background: Malaria remains a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in Ethiopia with an estimated 3.8 million cases in 2021 and 61% of the population living in areas at risk of malaria transmission. Throughout the country Plasmodium vivax and Plasmodium falciparum are co-endemic, and Duffy expression is highly heterogeneous.

Malaria transmission heterogeneity in different eco-epidemiological areas of western Kenya: a region-wide observational and risk classification study for adaptive intervention planning.

Background: Understanding of malaria ecology is a prerequisite for designing locally adapted control strategies in resource-limited settings. The aim of this study was to utilize the spatial heterogeneity in malaria transmission for the designing of adaptive interventions.

Methods: Field collections of clinical malaria incidence, asymptomatic Plasmodium infection, and malaria vector data were conducted from 108 randomly selected clusters which covered different landscape settings including irrigated farming, seasonal flooding area, lowland dryland farming, and highlands in western Kenya.

Non-Coding RNAs Potentially Involved in Pyrethroid Resistance of Anopheles funestus Population in Western Kenya.

Backgrounds: The resurgence of , a dominant vector of human malaria in western Kenya was partly attributed to insecticide resistance. However, evidence on the molecular basis of pyrethroid resistance in western Kenya is limited. Noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs) form a vast class of RNAs that do not code for proteins and are ubiquitous in the insect genome.

Mapping Potential Malaria Vector Larval Habitats for Larval Source Management in Western Kenya: Introduction to Multimodel Ensembling Approaches.

Identification and mapping of larval sources are a prerequisite for effective planning and implementing mosquito larval source management (LSM). Ensemble modeling is increasingly used for prediction modeling, but it lacks standard procedures. We proposed a detailed framework to predict potential malaria vector larval habitats by using multimodel ensemble modeling, which includes selection of models, ensembling method, and predictors, evaluation of variable importance, prediction of potential larval habitats, and assessment of prediction uncertainty.

Higher outdoor mosquito density and Plasmodium infection rates in and around malaria index case households in low transmission settings of Ethiopia: Implications for vector control.

Background: Understanding the clustering of infections for persistent malaria transmission is critical to determining how and where to target specific interventions. This study aimed to determine the density, blood meal sources and malaria transmission risk of anopheline vectors by targeting malaria index cases, their neighboring households and control villages in Arjo-Didessa, southwestern Ethiopia.

Methods: An entomological study was conducted concurrently with a reactive case detection (RCD) study from November 2019 to October 2021 in Arjo Didessa and the surrounding vicinity, southwestern Ethiopia.

Molecular surveillance of Kelch 13 polymorphisms in Plasmodium falciparum isolates from Kenya and Ethiopia.

Background: Timely molecular surveillance of Plasmodium falciparum kelch 13 (k13) gene mutations is essential for monitoring the emergence and stemming the spread of artemisinin resistance. Widespread artemisinin resistance, as observed in Southeast Asia, would reverse significant gains that have been made against the malaria burden in Africa. The purpose of this study was to assess the prevalence of k13 polymorphisms in western Kenya and Ethiopia at sites representing varying transmission intensities between 2018 and 2022.

Investigating the Impact of Irrigation on Malaria Vector Larval Habitats and Transmission Using a Hydrology-Based Model.

A combination of accelerated population growth and severe droughts has created pressure on food security and driven the development of irrigation schemes across sub-Saharan Africa. Irrigation has been associated with increased malaria risk, but risk prediction remains difficult due to the heterogeneity of irrigation and the environment. While investigating transmission dynamics is helpful, malaria models cannot be applied directly in irrigated regions as they typically rely only on rainfall as a source of water to quantify larval habitats.

First report of Anopheles stephensi from southern Ethiopia.

Background: Anopheles stephensi is an emerging exotic invasive urban malaria vector in East Africa. The World Health Organization recently announced an initiative to take concerted actions to limit this vector's expansion by strengthening surveillance and control in invaded and potentially receptive territories in Africa. This study sought to determine the invasion of An.

Anopheles larval habitats seasonality and environmental factors affecting larval abundance and distribution in Arjo-Didessa sugar cane plantation, Ethiopia.

Background: Water resource development projects are essential for increasing agricultural productivity and ensuring food security. However, these activities require the modification of pre-existing environmental settings, which may alter mosquito larval habitat availability and seasonality. The intensive utilization of current adult vector control tools results in insecticide resistance among the main vectors.

Asymptomatic and submicroscopic malaria infections in sugar cane and rice development areas of Ethiopia.

Background: Water resource development projects, such as dams and irrigation schemes, have a positive impact on food security and poverty reduction. However, such projects could increase prevalence of vector borne disease, such as malaria. This study investigate the impact of different agroecosystems and prevalence of malaria infection in Southwest Ethiopia.

Determination of Plasmodium vivax and Plasmodium falciparum Malaria Exposure in Two Ethiopian Communities and Its Relationship to Duffy Expression.

Despite historical dogma that Duffy blood group negativity of human erythrocytes confers resistance to Plasmodium vivax blood stage infection, cases of P. vivax malaria and asymptomatic blood stage infection (subclinical malaria) have recently been well documented in Duffy-negative individuals throughout Africa. However, the impact of Duffy negativity on the development of naturally acquired immunity to P.