Abstract
Evaluating the risk of emergence and transmission of vector‐borne diseases requires knowledge of the genetic and environmental contributions to pathogen transmission traits. Compared to the significant effort devoted to understanding the biology of malaria transmission from vertebrate hosts to mosquito vectors, the strategies that malaria parasites have evolved to maximize transmission from vectors to vertebrate hosts have been largely overlooked. While determinants of infection success within the mosquito host have recently received attention, the causes of variability for other key transmission traits of malaria, namely the duration of parasite development and its virulence within the vector, as well as its ability to alter mosquito behavior, remain largely unknown. This important gap in our knowledge needs to be bridged in order to obtain an integrative view of the ecology and evolution of malaria transmission strategies. Associations between transmission traits also need to be characterized, as they trade‐offs and constraints could have important implications for understanding the evolution of parasite transmission. Finally, theoretical studies are required to evaluate how genetic and environmental influences on parasite transmission traits can shape malaria dynamics and evolution in response to disease control.
Highlights
Human malaria remains one of the most common causes of human mortality, accounting for nearly half a million deaths each year (WHO, 2015)
Malaria is caused by Plasmodium parasites transmitted among humans by the bites of infected Anopheles mosquitoes (Box 1)
Ongoing control efforts, relying mostly on antimalarial drugs and insecticide-based interventions such as long-lasting insecticidal nets and indoor residual spraying against mosquito vectors, have reduced malaria transmission (Bhatt et al, 2015)
Summary
Human malaria remains one of the most common causes of human mortality, accounting for nearly half a million deaths each year (WHO, 2015). Malaria is caused by Plasmodium parasites transmitted among humans by the bites of infected Anopheles mosquitoes (Box 1). Five species of the genus Plasmodium cause all human malaria infections. Ongoing control efforts, relying mostly on antimalarial drugs and insecticide-based interventions such as long-lasting insecticidal nets and indoor residual spraying against mosquito vectors, have reduced malaria transmission (Bhatt et al, 2015). These interventions have selected for drug and insecticide resistance which could jeopardize control efforts (Huijben & Paaijmans, 2017; Sternberg & Thomas, 2017). Liver-stage parasites exit the hepatocytes as merozoites and enter the bloodstream
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