Abstract
BackgroundThe rapid and widespread evolution of insecticide resistance has emerged as one of the major challenges facing malaria control programs in sub-Saharan Africa. Understanding the insecticide resistance status of mosquito populations and the underlying mechanisms of insecticide resistance can inform the development of effective and site-specific strategies for resistance prevention and management. The aim of this study was to investigate the insecticide resistance status of Anopheles gambiae (s.l.) mosquitoes from coastal Kenya.MethodsAnopheles gambiae (s.l.) larvae sampled from eight study sites were reared to adulthood in the insectary, and 3- to 5-day-old non-blood-fed females were tested for susceptibility to permethrin, deltamethrin, dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT), fenitrothion and bendiocarb using the standard World Health Organization protocol. PCR amplification of rDNA intergenic spacers was used to identify sibling species of the An. gambiae complex. The An. gambiae (s.l.) females were further genotyped for the presence of the L1014S and L1014F knockdown resistance (kdr) mutations by real-time PCR.ResultsAnopheles arabiensis was the dominant species, accounting for 95.2% of the total collection, followed by An. gambiae (s.s.), accounting for 4.8%. Anopheles gambiae (s.l.) mosquitoes were resistant to deltamethrin, permethrin and fenitrothion but not to bendiocarb and DDT. The L1014S kdr point mutation was detected only in An. gambiae (s.s.), at a low allelic frequency of 3.33%, and the 1014F kdr mutation was not detected in either An. gambiae (s.s.) or An. arabiensis.ConclusionThe findings of this study demonstrate phenotypic resistance to pyrethroids and organophosphates and a low level of the L1014S kdr point mutation that may partly be responsible for resistance to pyrethroids. This knowledge may inform the development of insecticide resistance management strategies along the Kenyan Coast.Graphical
Highlights
The rapid and widespread evolution of insecticide resistance has emerged as one of the major challenges facing malaria control programs in sub-Saharan Africa
This study has shown that Anopheles arabiensis is the most dominant species in the eight study sites sampled in Kilifi county
A shift in malaria vector composition has recently been documented that coincides with the scaling up of vector control interventions, especially the ongoing widespread use of insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) along the Kenyan coast [31]
Summary
The rapid and widespread evolution of insecticide resistance has emerged as one of the major challenges facing malaria control programs in sub-Saharan Africa. The aim of this study was to investigate the insecticide resistance status of Anopheles gambiae (s.l.) mosquitoes from coastal Kenya. The main insecticide used to supplement deltamethrin (a pyrethroid ester insecticide) in IRS is pirimiphos-methyl (Actellic 300CS; Syngenta Group, Basel, Switzerland), an organophosphate [15]. These insecticides are used to control agricultural and urban pests, thereby exposing the mosquitoes to persistent selection pressure that eventually results in the selection for insecticide resistance
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