The resting behavior of malaria vectors in different ecological zones of Ghana and its implications for vector control

Urbanization and malaria have a contextual relationship in endemic areas: A temporal and spatial study in Ghana

In West Africa, malaria is one of the leading causes of disease-induced deaths. Existing studies indicate that as urbanization increases, there is corresponding decrease in malaria prevalence. However, in malaria-endemic areas, the prevalence in some rural areas is sometimes lower than in some peri-urban and urban areas. Therefore, the relationship between the degree of urbanization, the impact of living in urban areas, and the prevalence of malaria remains unclear. This study explores this association in Ghana, using epidemiological data at the district level (2015-2018) and data on health, hygiene, and education. We applied a multilevel model and time series decomposition to understand the epidemiological pattern of malaria in Ghana. Then we classified the districts of Ghana into rural, peri-urban, and urban areas using administratively defined urbanization, total built areas, and built intensity. We converted the prevalence time series into cross-sectional data for each district by extracting features from the data. To predict the determinant most impacting according to the degree of urbanization, we used a cluster-specific random forest. We find that prevalence is impacted by seasonality, but the trend of the seasonal signature is not noticeable in urban and peri-urban areas. While urban districts have a slightly lower prevalence, there are still pockets with higher rates within these regions. These areas of high prevalence are linked to proximity to water bodies and waterways, but the rise in these same variables is not associated with the increase of prevalence in peri-urban areas. The increase in nightlight reflectance in rural areas is associated with an increased prevalence. We conclude that urbanization is not the main factor driving the decline in malaria. However, the data indicate that understanding and managing malaria prevalence in urbanization will necessitate a focus on these contextual factors. Finally, we design an interactive tool, 'malDecision' that allows data-supported decision-making.

Comparison of different trapping methods to collect malaria vectors indoors and outdoors in western Kenya

BACKGROUND

Vector surveillance is among the World Health Organization global vector control response (2017-2030) pillars. Human landing catches are a gold standard but difficult to implement and potentially expose collectors to malaria infection. Other methods like light traps, pyrethrum spray catches and aspiration are less expensive and less risky to collectors.

METHODS

Three mosquito sampling methods (UV light traps, CDC light traps and Prokopack aspiration) were evaluated against human landing catches (HLC) in two villages of Rarieda sub-county, Siaya County, Kenya. UV-LTs, CDC-LTs and HLCs were conducted hourly between 17:00 and 07:00. Aspiration was done indoors and outdoors between 07:00 and 11:00 a.m. Analyses of mosquito densities, species abundance and sporozoite infectivity were performed across all sampling methods. Species identification PCR and ELISAs were done for Anopheles gambiae and Anopheles funestus complexes and data analysis was done in R.

RESULTS

Anopheles mosquitoes sampled from 608 trapping efforts were 5,370 constituting 70.3% Anopheles funestus sensu lato (s.l.), 19.7% Anopheles coustani and 7.2% An. gambiae s.l. 93.8% of An. funestus s.l. were An. funestus sensu stricto (s.s.) and 97.8% of An. gambiae s.l. were Anopheles arabiensis. Only An. funestus were sporozoite positive with 3.1% infection prevalence. Indoors, aspiration captured higher An. funestus (mean = 6.74; RR = 8.83, P < 0.001) then UV-LT (mean = 3.70; RR = 3.97, P < 0.001) and CDC-LT (mean = 1.74; RR = 1.89, P = 0.03) compared to HLC. UV-LT and CDC-LT indoors captured averagely 0.18 An. arabiensis RR = 5.75, P = 0.028 and RR = 5.87, P = 0.028 respectively. Outdoors, UV-LT collected significantly higher Anopheles mosquitoes compared to HLC (An. funestus: RR = 5.18, P < 0.001; An. arabiensis: RR = 15.64, P = 0.009; An. coustani: RR = 11.65, P < 0.001). Anopheles funestus hourly biting indoors in UV-LT and CDC-LT indicated different peaks compared to HLC.

CONCLUSIONS

Anopheles funestus remains the predominant mosquito species. More mosquitoes were collected using aspiration, CDC-LTs and UV-LTs indoors and UV-LTs and CD-LTs outdoors compared to HLCs. UV-LTs collected more mosquitoes than CDC-LTs. The varied trends observed at different times of the night suggest that these methods collect mosquitoes with diverse activities and care must be taken when interpreting the results.

Baseline susceptibility of Anopheles gambiae to clothianidin in northern Ghana

BACKGROUND

Clothianidin, an insecticide with a novel mode of action, has been deployed in the annual indoor residual spraying programme in northern Ghana since March 2021. To inform pragmatic management strategies and guide future studies, baseline data on local Anopheles gambiae sensu lato (s.l.) susceptibility to the clothianidin insecticide were collected in Kpalsogu, a village in the Northern region, Ghana.

METHODS

Phenotypic susceptibility of An. gambiae mosquitoes to clothianidin was assessed using the World Health Organization (WHO) insecticide resistance monitoring bioassay. The WHO cone bioassays were conducted on mud and cement walls sprayed with Sumishield 50 wettable granules (WG) (with clothianidin active ingredient). Daily mortalities were recorded for up to 7 days to observe for delayed mortalities. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique was used to differentiate the sibling species of the An. gambiae complex and also for the detection of knock down resistance genes (kdr) and the insensitive acetylcholinesterase mutation (ace-1).

RESULTS

The WHO susceptibility bioassay revealed a delayed killing effect of clothianidin. Mosquitoes exposed to the cone bioassays for 5 min died 120 h after exposure. Slightly higher mortalities were observed in mosquitoes exposed to clothianidin-treated cement wall surfaces than mosquitoes exposed to mud wall surfaces. The kdr target-site mutation L1014F occurred at very high frequencies (0.89-0.94) across all vector species identified whereas the ace-1 mutation occurred at moderate levels (0.32-0.44). Anopheles gambiae sensu stricto was the most abundant species observed at 63%, whereas Anopheles arabiensis was the least observed at 9%.

CONCLUSIONS

Anopheles gambiae s.l. mosquitoes in northern Ghana were susceptible to clothianidin. They harboured kdr mutations at high frequencies. The ace-1 mutation occurred in moderation. The results of this study confirm that clothianidin is an effective active ingredient and should be utilized in malaria vector control interventions.

Updating the Data on Malaria Vectors in Malaysia: Protocol for a Scoping Review

BACKGROUND

Malaria is still a public health threat. From 2015 to 2021, a total of 23,214 malaria cases were recorded in Malaysia. Thus, effective intervention and key entomological information are vital for interrupting or preventing malaria transmission. Therefore, the availability of malaria vector information is desperately needed.

OBJECTIVE

The objective of our study is to update the list of human and zoonotic malaria vectors in Malaysia. This work will include (1) the characterization of the key behavioral traits and breeding sites of malaria vectors and (2) the determination of new and potential malaria vectors in Malaysia. The findings of our scoping review will serve as decision-making evidence that stakeholders and decision makers can use to strengthen and intensify malaria surveillance in Malaysia.

METHODS

The scoping review will be conducted based on the following four electronic databases: Scopus, PubMed, Google Scholar, and Science Direct. A search strategy was conducted for articles published from database inception to March 2022. The criteria for article inclusion were any malaria vector-related studies conducted in Malaysia (with no time frame restrictions) and peer-reviewed studies. The PRISMA-ScR (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Extension for Scoping Reviews) will be used to guide our systematic approach. Data from published research literature will be extracted by using a standardized data extraction framework, including the titles, abstracts, characteristics, and main findings of the included studies. To assess the risk of bias, articles will be screened independently by 2 reviewers, and a third reviewer will make the final decision if disagreements occur.

RESULTS

The study commenced in June 2021, and it is planned to be completed at end of 2022. As of early 2022, we identified 631 articles. After accessing and evaluating the articles, 48 were found to be eligible. Full-text screening will be conducted in mid-2022. The results of the scoping review will be published as an open-access article in a peer-reviewed journal.

CONCLUSIONS

Our novel scoping review of malaria vectors in Malaysia will provide a comprehensive evidence summary of updated, relevant information. An understanding of the status of Anopheles as malaria vectors and the knowledge generated from the behavioral characteristics of malaria vectors are the key components in making effective interventions for eliminating malaria.

INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID)

DERR1-10.2196/39798.

Malaria vector bionomics in Taita-Taveta County, coastal Kenya

Background

Estimation of the composition and densities of mosquito species populations is crucial for monitoring the epidemiology of mosquito-borne diseases and provide information on local vectors to public health officials and policy-makers. The aim of this study was to evaluate malaria vector bionomics in ecologically distinct sites in Taita-Taveta County, Kenya.

Methods

Adult mosquitoes were collected using backpack aspirators and paired indoor/outdoor CDC light traps in 10 randomly selected households in six villages with distinct ecologies over a study period of 3 years. All Anopheles mosquitoes were morphotyped, and sibling species of Anopheles gambiae sensu lato (An. gambiae s.l.) were identified and separated by PCR analysis of extracted ribosomal DNA. All female anophelines were tested for sporozoite infectivity, with engorged females screened for blood-meal sources using the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay technique. A subsample of those testing positive and those testing negative for Plasmodium in the ELISA were subjected to PCR assay.

Results

A total of eight different Anopheles species were collected both indoors and outdoors. Anopheles gambiae s.l. (82.6%, n = 5252) was the predominant species sensu lato, followed by Anopheles coustani sensu lato (An. coustani s.l.; (10.5%, n = 666) and Anopheles funestus sensu lato (An. funestus s.l.; 5.6%, n = 357). A subset of 683 mosquito samples representing An. gambiae s.l. (n = 580, approx. 11.0%) and An. funestus s.l. (n = 103, approx. 28.9%) were identified by molecular diagnostic assays into sibling species. The An. gambiae s.l. complex was composed of Anopheles arabiensis (62.5%, n = 363/580), An. gambiae sensu stricto (An. gambiae s.s.; 0.7%, n = 4/580), Anopheles merus (0.7%, n = 4/580) and Anopheles quadriannulatus (0.2%, n = 1/580), with the remaining samples (35.5%, n = 206/580) unamplified. Anopheles funestus s.l. was composed of An. rivulorum (14.6%, n = 15/103) and An. leesoni (11.6%, n = 12/103); the remaining samples were unamplified (73.8%, n = 76/103). A total of 981 samples were subjected to PCR analysis for malaria parasite detection; of these 16 (1.6%) were confirmed to be positive for Plasmodium falciparum. The overall human blood index was 0.13 (32/238).

Conclusions

Anopheles gambiae, An. funestus and An. coustani are key malaria vectors in the Taveta region of Kenya, showing concurrent indoor and outdoor transmission. All of the vectors tested showed a higher propensity for bovine and goat blood than for human blood.

Graphical Abstract