Outdoor and early hour human biting activities of malaria mosquitoes and the suitability of clay pot for outdoor resting mosquito collection in malaria endemic villages of southern Rift Valley, Ethiopia

Anopheles arabiensis continues to be the primary vector of Plasmodium falciparum after decades of malaria control in southwestern Ethiopia

BACKGROUND

Investigating the species distribution and their role in malaria transmission is important as it varies from place to place and is highly needed to design interventions appropriate to the site. The current study aimed to investigate the Anopheles mosquito species distribution and their infection rate in southwestern Ethiopia.

METHODS

The study was conducted in 14 malaria-endemic kebeles (the smallest administrative unit), which were situated in eight different malaria-endemic districts and four zones in southwestern Ethiopia. Ten per cent of households in each village were visited to collect adult mosquitoes using Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) light traps. The larval and pupal collection was done from breeding sites within the villages, and reared to adults. Female mosquitoes were morphologically identified. The head and thorax of adult Anopheles mosquitoes were tested for circumsporozoite proteins (CSPs) using ELISA. At the same time, legs, wings, and abdomen were used to identify sibling species using PCR targeting the rDNA intergenic spacers region for species typing of the Anopheles funestus group and the internal transcribed spacer 2 region genes for Anopheles gambiae complex.

RESULTS

A total of 1445 Anopheles mosquitoes comprising eight species were collected. Of 813 An. gambiae complex tested by PCR, 785 (97%) were Anopheles arabiensis, and the remaining 28 (3%) were not amplified. There were 133 An. funestus group captured and tested to identify the species, of which 117 (88%) were positive for Anopheles parensis, and 15 (11%) were not amplified. A single specimen (1%) showed a band with a different base pair length from the known An. funestus group species. Sequencing revealed this was Anopheles sergentii. Among 1399 Anopheles tested for CSPs by ELISA, 5 (0.4%) An. arabiensis were positive for Plasmodium falciparum and a single (0.07%) was positive for Plasmodium vivax.

CONCLUSIONS

Anopheles arabiensis continues to play the principal role in malaria transmission despite implementing indoor-based interventions for decades. Sequencing results suggest that An. sergentii was amplified by the An. funestus group primer, producing PCR amplicon size of different length. Therefore, relying solely on amplifying a specific gene of interest in grouping species could be misleading, as different species may share the same gene.

Evaluation of the solar-powered Silver Bullet 2.1 (Lumin 8) light trap for sampling malaria vectors in western Kenya

BACKGROUND

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) light traps are widely used for sampling mosquitoes. However, this trap, manufactured in the USA, poses challenges for use in sub-Saharan Africa due to procurement costs and shipping time. Traps that are equally efficient than the CDC light trap, but which are amenable for use in remote African settings and made in Africa, are desirable to improve local vector surveillance. This study evaluated a novel solar-powered light trap made in South Africa (Silver Bullet trap; SB), for its efficiency in malaria vector sampling in western Kenya.

METHODS

Large cage (173.7 m3) experiments and field evaluations were conducted to compare the CDC-incandescent light trap (CDC-iLT), CDC-UV fluorescent tube light trap (CDC-UV), SB with white diodes (SB-White) and SB with UV diodes (SB-UV) for sampling Anopheles mosquitoes. Field assessments were done indoors and outdoors following a Latin square design. The wavelengths and absolute spectral irradiance of traps were compared using spectrometry.

RESULTS

The odds of catching a released Anopheles in the large cage experiments with the SB-UV under ambient conditions in the presence of a CDC-iLT in the same system was three times higher than what would have been expected when the two traps were equally attractive (odds ratio (OR) 3.2, 95% confidence interval CI 2.8-3.7, P < 0.01)). However, when the white light diode was used in the SB trap, it could not compete with the CDC-iLT (OR 0.56, 95% CI 0.48-0.66, p < 0.01) when the two traps were provided as choices in a closed system. In the field, the CDC and Silver Bullet traps were equally effective in mosquito sampling. Irrespective of manufacturer, traps emitting UV light performed better than white or incandescent light for indoor sampling, collecting two times more Anopheles funestus sensu lato (s.l.) (RR 2.5; 95% CI 1.7-3.8) and Anopheles gambiae s.l. (RR 2.5; 95% 1.7-3.6). Outdoor collections were lower than indoor collections and similar for all light sources and traps.

CONCLUSIONS

The solar-powered SB trap compared well with the CDC trap in the field and presents a promising new surveillance device especially when charging on mains electricity is challenging in remote settings.

Cattle feeding tendency of Anopheles mosquitoes and their infection rates in Aradum village, North Wollo, Ethiopia: an implication for animal-based malaria control strategies

BACKGROUND

Surveillance of indoor and outdoor resting malaria vector populations is crucial to monitor possible changes in vector resting and feeding behaviours. This study was conducted to assess the resting behaviour, blood meal sources and circumsporozoite (CSP) rates of Anopheles mosquito in Aradum village, Northern Ethiopia.

METHODS

Mosquito collection was conducted from September 2019 to February 2020 using clay pots (indoor and outdoor), pit shelter and pyrethrum spray catches (PSC). The species of Anopheles gambiae complex and Anopheles funestus group were identified using polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was done to determine CSP and blood meal sources of malaria vectors.

RESULTS

A total of 775 female Anopheles mosquitoes were collected using the clay pot, PSC and pit shelter. Seven Anopheles mosquito species were identified morphologically, of which Anopheles demeilloni (593; 76.5%) was the dominant species followed by An. funestus group (73; 9.4%). Seventy-three An. funestus group screened by PCR, 91.8% (67/73) were identified as Anopheles leesoni and only 2.7% (2/73) were found to be Anopheles parensis. The molecular speciation of 71 An. gambiae complex confirmed 91.5% (65/71) of Anopheles arabiensis. The majority of Anopheles mosquitoes were collected from outdoor pit shelter (42.2%) followed by outdoor clay pots. The majority of the blood meal of An. demeilloni (57.5%; 161/280), An. funestus sensu lato 10 (43.5%) and An. gambiae (33.3%; 14/42) originated from bovine. None of the 364 Anopheles mosquitoes tested for Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax sporozoite infections were positive.

CONCLUSION

Since the Anopheles mosquitoes in the area prefer to bite cattle, it may be best to target them with an animal-based intervention. Clay pots could be an alternative tool for outdoor monitoring of malaria vectors in areas where pit shelter construction is not possible.