Abstract
Most national malaria control programmes rely extensively on pyrethroid insecticides to control mosquito vectors of this disease. Unfortunately, the intensive use of this class of insecticides both in public health and agriculture has led to its reduced efficacy. The objective of this review was to assess the role of agricultural pesticides use on the development of resistance to insecticides in malaria vectors and the potential impact of this resistance on control activities. We searched library catalogues and public databases for studies that included data on resistance to the major classes of insecticides: organochlorines, carbamates, organophosphates and pyrethroids, in the malaria vectors of Anopheles genera. There is a strong geographical bias in published studies many originating from West African countries. Several studies demonstrate that resistance to pyrethroids is widespread in the major malaria vectors of the Anopheles gambiae and Anopheles funestus complexes. Assessing the impact of insecticide resistance on vector control is complicated owing to the lack of studies into the epidemiological consequences of resistance on the control of malaria and other vector borne diseases.
Highlights
Malaria remains one of the most critical public health challenges for Africa despite intense national and international efforts [1]
Different classes of insecticides have been successively used since 1950s, but most current control programmes are largely dependent on synthetic pyrethroids, the only class of insecticide that has been approved by WHO to be used for both impregnation of nets (ITNs) and Indoor Residual Spray (IRS) [3] [4]
Resistance to pyrethroids by malaria vectors is continuously being reported from different parts of Africa, and this has been associated to selection pressure resulting from the scaling up of ITNs and IRS [5] [7] and partly due to application of agricultural pesticides when they contaminate mosquito breeding habitats [6] [8] [9]
Summary
Malaria remains one of the most critical public health challenges for Africa despite intense national and international efforts [1]. Resistance to pyrethroids by malaria vectors is continuously being reported from different parts of Africa, and this has been associated to selection pressure resulting from the scaling up of ITNs and IRS [5] [7] and partly due to application of agricultural pesticides when they contaminate mosquito breeding habitats [6] [8] [9]. Pesticide and/or insecticide resistance is an overlapping issue between fields of agriculture, veterinary medicine and public health Strange as it may seem, intensive efforts to control both disease vectors and pests on crops and livestock using insecticides have in a number of cases been addressed independently in each of these separate fields. The knowledge gap in the field of vector resistance to insecticides is highlighted
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