Entomological Monitoring and Evaluation: Diverse Transmission Settings of ICEMR Projects Will Require Local and Regional Malaria Elimination Strategies

Abstract

The unprecedented global efforts for malaria elimination in the past decade have resulted in altered vectorial systems, vector behaviors, and bionomics. These changes combined with increasingly evident heterogeneities in malaria transmission require innovative vector control strategies in addition to the established practices of long-lasting insecticidal nets and indoor residual spraying. Integrated vector management will require focal and tailored vector control to achieve malaria elimination. This switch of emphasis from universal coverage to universal coverage plus additional interventions will be reliant on improved entomological monitoring and evaluation. In 2010, the National Institutes for Allergies and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) established a network of malaria research centers termed ICEMRs (International Centers for Excellence in Malaria Research) expressly to develop this evidence base in diverse malaria endemic settings. In this article, we contrast the differing ecology and transmission settings across the ICEMR study locations. In South America, Africa, and Asia, vector biologists are already dealing with many of the issues of pushing to elimination such as highly focal transmission, proportionate increase in the importance of outdoor and crepuscular biting, vector species complexity, and “sub patent” vector transmission.

Using low-cost drones to map malaria vector habitats

“…To successfully eliminate malaria, we need to complement indoor-based vector control interventions with outdoor-based initiatives such as LSM [11–20]. To make LSM feasible, tools are needed to identify water bodies at a community scale to target resources [50].…”

“…As such, it is becoming more apparent that if we are to achieve the ambitious goal of eliminating malaria, it will be necessary to complement indoor interventions with, among others (e.g. mass drug administration), outdoor-based larval source management (LSM) interventions such as larviciding and environmental management of mosquito larval habitats to reduce residual mosquito populations, thereby breaking the malaria transmission cycle [11–20]. …”

Comparative assessment on the prevalence of mutations in the Plasmodium falciparum drug-resistant genes in two different ecotypes of Odisha state, India

“…Considering malaria as a highly local and focal disease, local ecological conditions play vital role in malaria transmission (Conn et al, 2015; Das, 2015; Dash et al, 2008; Rath, 2004). To this extent, what amount of micro ecological settings influence malaria epidemiological outcome is poorly understood.…”

“…et al, 2015), and therefore, malaria is considered as a local and focal disease (Conn et al, 2015; Dash et al, 2008; Rath, 2004). Several studies involving different ecological and climatic settings have provided evidence that malaria epidemiology can be significantly variable across small eco-climatic scales (Jambulingam et al, 1991; Kaga and Ohta, 2012; Schapira and Boutsika, 2012).…”

Detection ofPlasmodium falciparumInfection inAnopheles squamosus(Diptera: Culicidae) in an Area Targeted for Malaria Elimination, Southern Zambia

“…As part of the International Centers of Excellence in Malaria Research (ICEMR) in Southern Africa (Conn et al 2015), outdoor collection methods for anopheline malaria vectors were evaluated in Macha, Choma district, Southern Zambia. Using two 4x4 Latin Square designs, miniature CDC UV light traps, updraft UV light traps (John W Hock Co., Gainesville, FL) and barrier screens (Burkot et al 2013) were rotated through eight consenting households for a period of 48 nights in the rainy season between February and April 2015.…”