The fitness of African malaria vectors in the presence and limitation of host behaviour

Using Bayesian state-space models to understand the population dynamics of the dominant malaria vector, Anopheles funestus in rural Tanzania

Background

It is often assumed that the population dynamics of the malaria vector Anopheles funestus, its role in malaria transmission and the way it responds to interventions are similar to the more elaborately characterized Anopheles gambiae. However, An. funestus has several unique ecological features that could generate distinct transmission dynamics and responsiveness to interventions. The objectives of this work were to develop a model which will: (1) reconstruct the population dynamics, survival, and fecundity of wild An. funestus populations in southern Tanzania, (2) quantify impacts of density dependence on the dynamics, and (3) assess seasonal fluctuations in An. funestus demography. Through quantifying the population dynamics of An. funestus, this model will enable analysis of how their stability and response to interventions may differ from that of An. gambiae sensu lato.

Methods

A Bayesian State Space Model (SSM) based on mosquito life history was fit to time series data on the abundance of female An. funestus sensu stricto collected over 2 years in southern Tanzania. Prior values of fitness and demography were incorporated from empirical data on larval development, adult survival and fecundity from laboratory-reared first generation progeny of wild caught An. funestus. The model was structured to allow larval and adult fitness traits to vary seasonally in response to environmental covariates (i.e. temperature and rainfall), and for density dependency in larvae. The effects of density dependence and seasonality were measured through counterfactual examination of model fit with or without these covariates.

Results

The model accurately reconstructed the seasonal population dynamics of An. funestus and generated biologically-plausible values of their survival larval, development and fecundity in the wild. This model suggests that An. funestus survival and fecundity annual pattern was highly variable across the year, but did not show consistent seasonal trends either rainfall or temperature. While the model fit was somewhat improved by inclusion of density dependence, this was a relatively minor effect and suggests that this process is not as important for An. funestus as it is for An. gambiae populations.

Conclusion

The model's ability to accurately reconstruct the dynamics and demography of An. funestus could potentially be useful in simulating the response of these populations to vector control techniques deployed separately or in combination. The observed and simulated dynamics also suggests that An. funestus could be playing a role in year-round malaria transmission, with any apparent seasonality attributed to other vector species.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12936-022-04189-4.

Human-Mosquito Contact: A Missing Link in Our Understanding of Mosquito-Borne Disease Transmission Dynamics

Despite the critical role that contact between hosts and vectors, through vector bites, plays in driving vector-borne disease (VBD) transmission, transmission risk is primarily studied through the lens of vector density and overlooks host-vector contact dynamics. This review article synthesizes current knowledge of host-vector contact with an emphasis on mosquito bites. It provides a framework including biological and mathematical definitions of host-mosquito contact rate, blood-feeding rate, and per capita biting rates. We describe how contact rates vary and how this variation is influenced by mosquito and vertebrate factors. Our framework challenges a classic assumption that mosquitoes bite at a fixed rate determined by the duration of their gonotrophic cycle. We explore alternative ecological assumptions based on the functional response, blood index, forage ratio, and ideal free distribution within a mechanistic host-vector contact model. We highlight that host-vector contact is a critical parameter that integrates many factors driving disease transmission. A renewed focus on contact dynamics between hosts and vectors will contribute new insights into the mechanisms behind VBD spread and emergence that are sorely lacking. Given the framework for including contact rates as an explicit component of mathematical models of VBD, as well as different methods to study contact rates empirically to move the field forward, researchers should explicitly test contact rate models with empirical studies. Such integrative studies promise to enhance understanding of extrinsic and intrinsic factors affecting host-vector contact rates and thus are critical to understand both the mechanisms driving VBD emergence and guiding their prevention and control.

Fitness characteristics of the malaria vector Anopheles funestus during an attempted laboratory colonization

BACKGROUND

The malaria vector Anopheles funestus is increasingly recognized as a dominant vector of residual transmission in many African settings. Efforts to better understand its biology and control are significantly impeded by the difficulties of colonizing it under laboratory conditions. To identify key bottlenecks in colonization, this study compared the development and fitness characteristics of wild An. funestus from Tanzania (FUTAZ) and their F₁ offspring during colonization attempts. The demography and reproductive success of wild FUTAZ offspring were compared to that of individuals from one of the only An. funestus strains that has been successfully colonized (FUMOZ, from Mozambique) under similar laboratory conditions.

METHODS

Wild An. funestus (FUTAZ) were collected from three Tanzanian villages and maintained inside an insectary at 70-85% RH, 25-27 °C and 12 h:12 h photoperiod. Eggs from these females were used to establish three replicate F₁ laboratory generations. Larval development, survival, fecundity, mating success, percentage pupation and wing length were measured in the F₁ -FUTAZ offspring and compared with wild FUTAZ and FUMOZ mosquitoes.

RESULTS

Wild FUTAZ laid fewer eggs (64.1; 95% CI [63.2, 65.0]) than FUMOZ females (76.1; 95% CI [73.3, 79.1]). Survival of F₁-FUTAZ larvae under laboratory conditions was low, with an egg-to-pupae conversion rate of only 5.9% compared to 27.4% in FUMOZ. The median lifespan of F₁-FUTAZ females (32 days) and males (33 days) was lower than FUMOZ (52 and 49 for females and males respectively). The proportion of female F₁-FUTAZ inseminated under laboratory conditions (9%) was considerably lower than either FUMOZ (72%) or wild-caught FUTAZ females (92%). This resulted in nearly zero viable F₂-FUTAZ eggs produced. Wild FUTAZ wings appear to be larger compared to the lab reared F₁-FUTAZ and FUMOZ.

CONCLUSIONS

This study indicates that poor larval survival, mating success, low fecundity and shorter survival under laboratory conditions all contribute to difficulties in colonizing of An. funestus. Future studies should focus on enhancing these aspects of An. funestus fitness in the laboratory, with the biggest barrier likely to be poor mating.

Influence of GST- and P450-based metabolic resistance to pyrethroids on blood feeding in the major African malaria vector Anopheles funestus

Insecticide resistance genes are often associated with pleiotropic effects on various mosquito life-history traits. However, very little information is available on the impact of insecticide resistance on blood feeding process in mosquitoes. Here, using two recently detected DNA-based metabolic markers in the major malaria vector, An. funestus, we investigated how metabolic resistance genes could affect the blood meal intake. After allowing both the field F1 and lab F8 Anopheles funestus strains to feed on the human arm for 30 minutes, we assessed the association between key parameters of blood meal process including, probing time, feeding duration, blood feeding success, blood meal size, and markers of glutathione S-transferase (L119F-GSTe2) and cytochrome P450 (CYP6P9a_R)-mediated metabolic resistance. None of the parameters of blood meal process was associated with L119F-GSTe2 genotypes. By contrast, for CYP6P9a_R, homozygous resistant mosquitoes were significantly more able to blood-feed than homozygous susceptible (OR = 3.3; CI 95%: 1.4-7.7; P = 0.01) mosquitoes. Moreover, the volume of blood meal ingested by CYP6P9a-SS mosquitoes was lower than that of CYP6P9a-RS (P<0.004) and of CYP6P9a-RR (P<0.006). This suggests that CYP6P9a gene is inked with the feeding success and blood meal size of An. funestus. However, no correlation was found in the expression of CYP6P9a and that of genes encoding for salivary proteins involved in blood meal process. This study suggests that P450-based metabolic resistance may influence the blood feeding process of Anopheles funestus mosquito and consequently its ability to transmit malaria parasites.