The Biological Control of the Malaria Vector

Abstract

The call for malaria control, over the last century, marked a new epoch in the history of this disease. Many control strategies targeting either the Plasmodium parasite or the Anopheles vector were shown to be effective. Yet, the emergence of drug resistant parasites and insecticide resistant mosquito strains, along with numerous health, environmental, and ecological side effects of many chemical agents, highlighted the need to develop alternative tools that either complement or substitute conventional malaria control approaches. The use of biological means is considered a fundamental part of the recently launched malaria eradication program and has so far shown promising results, although this approach is still in its infancy. This review presents an overview of the most promising biological control tools for malaria eradication, namely fungi, bacteria, larvivorous fish, parasites, viruses and nematodes.

Nanosilver: new ageless and versatile biomedical therapeutic scaffold

“…304 The protozoal vector-borne diseases are the most common and important infections in developed regions, resulting in over one million deaths from malaria on yearly bases, worldwide. 305 To control the malaria vector, researchers strive to discover innovative approach against antimalarial agents. Among various antimalarial drugs, AgNPs have also been evaluated against malarial parasites and reported with promising potential against malaria.…”

Why is Pseudosphromenus cupanus (Teleostei: Osphronemidae) reported from Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, and Pakistan?

“…Both Jayaram (1999) and Talwar & Jhingran (1991) refer to aquarium literature in comments on the synonymy and generic placement of P. cupanus. One potential mistake concerns the origin of the first import of P. dayi, Cochin, which should be understood as Kochi on the western (Malabar) coast of India and which is within the natural range of P. dayi.…”

Biological Control of Parasites

“…Other predatory fishes such as the Cyprinus carpio, Ctenopharyngodon idella, Aphanius dispar, Aplocheilus blocki, Tilapia spp., Catla catla, Labeo rohita and Cirrhinus mrigala have also shown promise in the control of mosquitoes [33]. In China, for example, the presence of carp fish in certain rice fields reduced the number of malaria cases [34].…”

“…Over 750 species of entomopathogenic fungi have been identified, a majority of them belong to the phylum Ascomycota and a few to the phylum Zygomycota and Ascomycotina [45]. Unlike the other BCAs, some fungi do not need to be ingested by the host [33]; entomopathogenic fungi produce spores as the insect comes in contact with these spores either on the body of dead insects or surfaces or in the air as airborne particles; the spores germinate in the presence of high humidity and produce germ tubes that allow them to penetrate the cuticle of the insect, usually at joints or creases where the insect's protective covering is thinner [46]. Death usually follows between 4 and 10 days, depending on the type of fungus and the number of infecting spores.…”