Abstract
BackgroundIn Ethiopia, Anopheles arabiensis is the main vector responsible for the transmission of malaria in the country and its control mainly involves application of indoor residual spraying (IRS) and use of insecticide-treated bed nets (ITNs).ObjectiveAlthough the role of repellents for reducing man-vector contact is documented in the literature, the response of An. arabiensis to repellents was not previously evaluated under field conditions in Ethiopia.MethodThe trial was conducted in Sodere village assessing the repellent activities of four repellents, of which, two of them were commercially available DEET (N, N-diethyl-1,3-methylbenzamide) and MyggA (p-methane diol) and the other two were laboratory- produced, 20% neem oil and 20% chinaberry oil. A 6 by 6 Latin square design was employed by involving six volunteers who received rotated treatments of repellents and the Ethiopian Niger seed, noog abyssinia (Guizotia abyssinia), and locally called as noog oil (diluents to the two plant oils). Each volunteer also served as control. Volunteers were positioned at a distance of 20–40 m from each other and each was treated with one of the repellents, Niger seed/noog/ oil or untreated. Landing mosquitoes were collected from dusk to down using tests tubes. The tests were done in three replicates.ResultsBoth DEET and MyggA provided more than 96% protection. The mean protection time for DEET was 8 hrs while the time for MyggA was 6 hrs. Protection obtained from neem oil and chinaberry oil was almost similar (more than 70%), however, the complete protection time for neem was 3 hrs, while that of chinaberry oil was one hour.ConclusionThe commercial products and laboratory-produced repellents can be utilized by individuals to avoid contact with An. arabiensis in Ethiopia.
Highlights
In Ethiopia, Anopheles arabiensis is the main vector responsible for the transmission of malaria in the country and its control mainly involves application of indoor residual spraying (IRS) and use of insecticide-treated bed nets (ITNs)
Protection obtained from neem oil and chinaberry oil was almost similar, the complete protection time for neem was 3 hrs, while that of chinaberry oil was one hour
Overall, 857 An. arabiensis were collected, of which 0.5% were from volunteers treated with DEET, 1.8% from MyggA, 13.12% from 20% neem oil, 14.48% from 20% chinaberry oil, 25.7% from control oil and 44.18% from control without oil (Table 1)
Summary
In Ethiopia, Anopheles arabiensis is the main vector responsible for the transmission of malaria in the country and its control mainly involves application of indoor residual spraying (IRS) and use of insecticide-treated bed nets (ITNs). Mosquitoes of the Anopheles gambiae complex are the most important malaria vectors in the world and are composed of seven sibling species namely, An. gambiae sensu stricto (s.s.), Anopheles arabiensis, Anopheles bwambae, Anopheles merus, Anopheles melas and Anopheles quadriannulatus. Only An. gambiae s.s. and An. arabiensis have become widely distributed and are most efficient vectors. They are most important as far as intensified transmission of malaria is concerned [5,6]. Of the An. gambiae complex siblings, An. arabiensis and An. quadriannulatus sp.B are known to occur in Ethiopia [7] and malaria in Ethiopia is transmitted mainly by An. arabiensis [8,9]
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