Abstract
BackgroundThe proportion of mosquito blood-meals that are of human origin, referred to as the ‘human blood index’ or HBI, is a key determinant of malaria transmission.MethodsA systematic review was conducted followed by meta-regression of the HBI for the major African malaria vectors.ResultsEvidence is presented for higher HBI among Anopheles gambiae (M/S forms and Anopheles coluzzii/An. gambiae sensu stricto are not distinguished for most studies and, therefore, combined) as well as Anopheles funestus when compared with Anopheles arabiensis (prevalence odds ratio adjusted for collection location [i.e. indoor or outdoor]: 1.62; 95% CI 1.09–2.42; 1.84; 95% CI 1.35–2.52, respectively). This finding is in keeping with the entomological literature which describes An. arabiensis to be more zoophagic than the other major African vectors. However, analysis also revealed that HBI was more associated with location of mosquito captures (R2 = 0.29) than with mosquito (sibling) species (R2 = 0.11).ConclusionsThese findings call into question the appropriateness of current methods of assessing host preferences among disease vectors and have important implications for strategizing vector control.
Highlights
The proportion of mosquito blood-meals that are of human origin, referred to as the ‘human blood index’ or HBI, is a key determinant of malaria transmission
In Africa, the majority of infections are transmitted by Anopheles gambiae sensu stricto (s.s.), Anopheles coluzzii, Anopheles funestus and Anopheles arabiensis
Outdoor collections represented 27 of the total data points extracted with manual collection of mosquitoes being the most common collection method (n = 13)
Summary
The proportion of mosquito blood-meals that are of human origin, referred to as the ‘human blood index’ or HBI, is a key determinant of malaria transmission. Orsborne et al Malar J (2018) 17:479 mosquito population will often adjust its biting towards a more locally available host species [1, 6]. This has important implications for malaria control policy. Recent studies have observed that increased outdoor biting followed the distribution of insecticide-treated bed nets [7]. In such circumstances, vector control tools that operate effectively outdoors become a critical component for eliminating local malaria transmission. The huge malaria burden reduction achieved in the years since 2000 has relied disproportionately on control tools operating indoors [8], and there are limited effective malaria-vector control options for outdoor use
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