Abstract
BackgroundA mosquito survey was carried out on the island of Likoma in Lake Malawi with a view to collecting baseline data to determine the feasibility of implementing an integrated malaria vector control programme. No vector control interventions are currently being applied on the island apart from the sporadic use of treated and untreated bed nets.ResultsLarge numbers of Anopheles funestus were found resting inside houses. WHO susceptibility tests were carried out on wild caught females and 1-5 day old F-1 female progeny. Wild caught females were tested on deltamethrin (77.8% mortality) and bendiocarb (56.4% mortality). Female progeny were tested on deltamethrin (41.4% mortality), permethrin (40.4%), bendiocarb (52.5%), propoxur (7.4%), malathion, fenitrothion, DDT, dieldrin (all 100%) and pirimiphos-methyl (98.9%). The malaria parasite rate was 4.9%. A small number of Anopheles arabiensis were also collected.ConclusionThis locality is 1,500 km north of the currently known distribution of pyrethroid resistant An. funestus in southern Africa. The susceptibility results mirror those found in southern Mozambique and South African populations, but are markedly different to An. funestus populations in Uganda, indicating that the Malawi resistance has spread from the south.
Highlights
A mosquito survey was carried out on the island of Likoma in Lake Malawi with a view to collecting baseline data to determine the feasibility of implementing an integrated malaria vector control programme
The present study provides evidence of insecticide resistance in An. funestus from an island in Lake Malawi that is considerably further north than any previous records of resistance
Many houses were searched for mosquitoes mostly without success, but a substantial An. funestus population was found in a few houses close to a small area being used for rice cultivation
Summary
A mosquito survey was carried out on the island of Likoma in Lake Malawi with a view to collecting baseline data to determine the feasibility of implementing an integrated malaria vector control programme. Anopheles funestus is the major malaria vector in southern Africa. Records of its involvement in malaria transmission give Plasmodium falciparum parasite rates as high as 22% in South Africa [1]. In Tanzania 11% infection rate was recorded [2] and 5% in southern Mozambique [3]. South Africa eradicated An. funestus in the 1950’s when an extensive indoor residual spraying (IRS) campaign using DDT was rolled out. In the 50 years, this vector species was recorded only once during a small malaria outbreak in the northern part of the country [4]. In 1999/ 2000, South Africa experienced its worst malaria outbreak since the introduction of IRS in the 1950’s and An. funestus was found once again in northern KwaZulu/ Natal, just south of Mozambique [5,6].
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