Insecticide resistance in malaria vector mosquitoes at four localities in Ghana, West Africa

Abstract

BackgroundMalaria vector control programmes that rely on insecticide-based interventions such as indoor house spraying with residual insecticides or insecticide treated bed nets, need to base their decision-making process on sound baseline data. More and more commercial entities in Africa, such as mining companies, are realising the value to staff productivity of controlling malaria transmission in their areas of operation.This paper presents baseline entomological data obtained during surveys conducted for four mining operations in Ghana, West Africa.ResultsThe vast majority of the samples were identified as Anopheles gambiae S form with only a few M form specimens being identified from Tarkwa. Plasmodium falciparum infection rates ranged from 4.5 to 8.6% in An. gambiae and 1.81 to 8.06% in An. funestus. High survival rates on standard WHO bioassay tests were recorded for all insecticide classes except the organophosphates that showed reasonable mortality at all locations (i.e. > 90%). The West African kdr mutation was detected and showed high frequencies in all populations.ConclusionsThe data highlight the complexity of the situation prevailing in southern Ghana and the challenges facing the malaria vector control programmes in this region. Vector control programmes in Ghana need to carefully consider the resistance profiles of the local mosquito populations in order to base their resistance management strategies on sound scientific data.

Identification and validation of a gene causing cross-resistance between insecticide classes inAnopheles gambiaefrom Ghana

“…Although DDT resistance is widely known in Ghana (25,26), resistance of this magnitude has not been described previously. Such highlevel resistance could render DDT ineffective for IRS-based vector-control programs and understanding the mechanisms underlying resistance is important for resistance management.…”

Resting Behaviour of Deltamethrin-Resistant Malaria Vectors, Anopheles arabiensis and Anopheles coluzzii, from North Cameroon: Upshots from a Two-Level Ordinary Logit Model

“…Since data collection for the current study was done between October and November 2011, the observed distribution of sibling species of An. gambiae complex may vary periodically [41]. Significant variations in the relative frequencies of An.…”

Insecticide resistance testing in malaria vectors in Tanzania: Challenges in mosquito sampling and rearing under field conditions

“…The emergence and rapid spread of Pyrethroid resistance in An. gambiae complex populations may be a threat for the sustainability of malaria vector control activities (Hunt et al, 2011;Temu et al, 2012). This raises the need for national surveys for monitoring the insecticide susceptibility status of major vectors, detection of resistance possible genes and assessing their implications on vector control activities (Kelly-Hope & Ranson, 2008).…”

“…In many African countries, Anopheline mosquitoes are developing resistance to all classes of insecticides used for mosquito control (Hunt et al, 2011;Kabula et al, 2012). Among these, Pyrethroids are the only option for net treatment due to their relative safety for humans at low dosage, excito-repellent properties, rapid rate of knock-down, and killing effects (Zaim et al, 2000).…”