Abstract
BackgroundMalaria vector control programmes that rely on insecticide-based interventions such as indoor house spraying with residual insecticides or insecticide treated bed nets, need to base their decision-making process on sound baseline data. More and more commercial entities in Africa, such as mining companies, are realising the value to staff productivity of controlling malaria transmission in their areas of operation.This paper presents baseline entomological data obtained during surveys conducted for four mining operations in Ghana, West Africa.ResultsThe vast majority of the samples were identified as Anopheles gambiae S form with only a few M form specimens being identified from Tarkwa. Plasmodium falciparum infection rates ranged from 4.5 to 8.6% in An. gambiae and 1.81 to 8.06% in An. funestus. High survival rates on standard WHO bioassay tests were recorded for all insecticide classes except the organophosphates that showed reasonable mortality at all locations (i.e. > 90%). The West African kdr mutation was detected and showed high frequencies in all populations.ConclusionsThe data highlight the complexity of the situation prevailing in southern Ghana and the challenges facing the malaria vector control programmes in this region. Vector control programmes in Ghana need to carefully consider the resistance profiles of the local mosquito populations in order to base their resistance management strategies on sound scientific data.
Highlights
Malaria vector control programmes that rely on insecticide-based interventions such as indoor house spraying with residual insecticides or insecticide treated bed nets, need to base their decision-making process on sound baseline data
This paper reports on four such baseline surveys carried out at mining operations in Ghana, West Africa
Where treated bed nets in good condition were present, no mosquitoes were found in the bedrooms but on some occasions many mosquitoes were found resting inside the treated nets as well as in the adjacent living rooms, behind chairs or under tables, obviously avoiding the bedrooms due to the repellent effect of the treated bed nets [14]
Summary
Malaria vector control programmes that rely on insecticide-based interventions such as indoor house spraying with residual insecticides or insecticide treated bed nets, need to base their decision-making process on sound baseline data. More and more commercial entities in Africa, such as mining companies, are realising the value to staff productivity of controlling malaria transmission in their areas of operation. This paper presents baseline entomological data obtained during surveys conducted for four mining operations in Ghana, West Africa. The traditional methods of protecting work-forces using fogging, prophylaxis, repellents and handing out insecticide treated bed nets to workers (ITNs), have clearly not resulted in the desired outcome and companies are implementing malaria control through the use of indoor residual house spraying [2,3]. This paper reports on four such baseline surveys carried out at mining operations in Ghana, West Africa
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