Using crowdsourcing to identify, characterize and target swarms of Anopheles funestus mosquitoes in rural Tanzania
Wellcome Trust
Ifakara Health Institute
Malaria burden in Tanzania has significantly declined following scale-up of long-lasting insecticide treated nets (LLINs)6. In some areas such as rural south-eastern Tanzania, Anopheles gambiae s.s, which was previously the number one vector has also disappeared under the intervention pressures. Unfortunately, a different vector species, An. funestus persists and now mediate >85% of ongoing malaria transmission despite their low densities2. These mosquitoes are also resistant to pyrethroids used on LLINs2,7, and require alternative control strategies. Greater understanding of ecology of An. funestus will offer additional opportunities to achieve malaria elimination8. Swarming and mating behaviours, though often neglected, are particularly crucial. For the first time in Tanzania, our research has recently revealed that An. funestus (and Anopheles arabiensis) mate in swarms, which occur repeatedly in same locations and same time each day3,5. Targeting these behaviours may provide new opportunities to crash vector populations and drastically reduce malaria in areas where LLINs have achieved significant reductions but low-level transmission persists. Indeed, studies in Burkina-Faso have provided evidence that targeting swarms can reduce vector population by 80%9. I propose to demonstrate that An. funestus swarms can be identified, characterized and targeted for control with help from trained community members in selected Tanzanian villages.
2.2 Factors relating to physical environment