Abstract
BackgroundThe combined efforts to combat outdoor/indoor transmission of malaria parasites are hampered by the emerging vector resistance in a wide variety of malaria-endemic settings of Africa and the rest of the world, stressing the need for alternative control measures. This study aimed at documenting insect’s repellent plant species used by indigenous populations of 6 localities of East, South, West and Centre regions of Cameroon.MethodsInformation was gathered through face-to-face interviews guided by a semi-structured questionnaire on the knowledge of medicinal plants with insect repellent properties.ResultsA total of 182 informants aged from 25 to 75 years were recruited by convenience from May to June 2015. The informants had general knowledge about insects’ repellent plants (78.6%). A total of 16 plant species were recorded as insects’ repellents with 50% being trees. The most cited plants were Canarium schweinfurthii (Burseraceae) (in four localities, 58/182), Elaeis guineensis (Arecaceae) (in three localities, 38/182), Chromolaena odorata (Compositae) (16/182) and Citrus limon (Rutaceae) (11/182) in two localities each. Among the repellent plant species recorded, 50% were reported to be burnt to produce in-house smokes, 31.2% were mashed and applied on the body, and 18.8% were hung in the houses. The leaf was the most commonly used plant part (52.9%), followed by the bark (17.6%).ConclusionsThis study has shown that rural populations of the 6 targeted localities possess indigenous knowledge on repellent plants that are otherwise cost-effective and better choice for repelling insects including malaria-transmitting mosquitoes. Meanwhile, such practices should be validated experimentally and promoted as sustainable malaria transmission control tools in the remotely located communities.
Highlights
The combined efforts to combat outdoor/indoor transmission of malaria parasites are hampered by the emerging vector resistance in a wide variety of malaria-endemic settings of Africa and the rest of the world, stressing the need for alternative control measures
No specific record about mosquito and/or insect repellent plants was obtained from the Kribi-Londji site
Plant parts used in the study sites and their modes of administration With respect to the parts of the plants used for repelling insects, results from the present study indicated that the local communities preferentially use the leaf (52.9%), followed by the bark, and whole plant (Fig. 2)
Summary
The combined efforts to combat outdoor/indoor transmission of malaria parasites are hampered by the emerging vector resistance in a wide variety of malaria-endemic settings of Africa and the rest of the world, stressing the need for alternative control measures. The phenomenon of insecticide resistance poses a serious threat to sustainable insecticidebased vector control in many African countries. Youmsi et al Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine (2017) 13:33 the lack of effective anti-vector tools designed to prevent outdoor transmission and the serious threat posed by insecticides to the environment as well as the human health emphasize the need to develop new vector control approaches that can complement the existing interventions. There are increased research efforts to develop natural and environment friendly interventions including plant-based mosquito repellents. Plant-based repellents are generally targetspecific and relatively non-toxic, and are still extensively used traditionally as first intention and affordable tools in malaria endemic rural communities for protection against mosquito bites [4]
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