Abstract
BackgroundIndoor attractive toxic sugar bait (ATSB) has potential as a supplementary vector-control and resistance-management tool, offering an alternative mode of insecticide delivery to current core vector-control interventions, with potential to deliver novel insecticides. Given the high long-lasting insecticidal bed net (LLIN) coverage across Africa, it is crucial that the efficacy of indoor ATSB in combination with LLINs is established before it is considered for wider use in public health.MethodsAn experimental hut trial to evaluate the efficacy of indoor ATSB traps treated with 4% boric acid (BA ATSB) or 1% chlorfenapyr (CFP ATSB) in combination with untreated nets or LLINs (holed or intact), took place at the M’bé field station in central Côte d’Ivoire against pyrethroid resistant Anopheles gambiae sensu lato.ResultsThe addition of ATSB to LLINs increased the mortality rates of wild pyrethroid-resistant An. gambiae from 19% with LLIN alone to 28% with added BA ATSB and to 39% with added CFP ATSB (p < 0.001). Anopheles gambiae mortality with combined ATSB and untreated net was similar to that of combined ATSB and LLIN regardless of which insecticide was used in the ATSB. The presence of holes in the LLIN did not significantly affect ATSB-induced An. gambiae mortality. Comparative tests against pyrethroid resistant and susceptible strains using oral application of ATSB treated with pyrethroid demonstrated 66% higher survival rate among pyrethroid-resistant mosquitoes.ConclusionIndoor ATSB traps in combination with LLINs enhanced the control of pyrethroid-resistant An. gambiae. However, many host-seeking An. gambiae entering experimental huts with indoor ATSB exited into the verandah trap without sugar feeding when restricted from a host by a LLIN. Although ATSB has potential for making effective use of classes of insecticide otherwise unsuited to vector control, it does not exempt potential selection of resistance via this route.
Highlights
Indoor attractive toxic sugar bait (ATSB) has potential as a supplementary vector-control and resist‐ ance-management tool, offering an alternative mode of insecticide delivery to current core vector-control interven‐ tions, with potential to deliver novel insecticides
Whilst vector control is an effective strategy for malaria control, there is increasing evidence to suggest that insecticide resistance is reducing the effectiveness of current control measures, and progress is beginning to stall in parts of sub-Saharan Africa [1, 3, 4]
A previous experimental hut trial in Tanzania showed that indoor ATSB traps are effective against An. arabiensis when combined with untreated, intact nets [11]
Summary
Indoor attractive toxic sugar bait (ATSB) has potential as a supplementary vector-control and resist‐ ance-management tool, offering an alternative mode of insecticide delivery to current core vector-control interven‐ tions, with potential to deliver novel insecticides. The potential for indoor attractive toxic sugar bait (ATSB) to target an alternative point in the mosquito life cycle and to deliver novel insecticides makes it a promising candidate as a supplementary malaria vector control tool. Evidence suggests that sugar-feeding in female Anopheles gambiae is relatively uncommon when blood hosts are readily available, mosquitoes are more likely to feed on sugar when energy is deficient [6,7,8]. For this reason, increasing restriction of blood hosts likely increases the diversion of mosquitoes to sugar sources, and the combination of ATSB and bed nets (at high coverage) may be synergistic
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