Using Outdoor Infrastructure for Malaria Eradication

Existing malaria vector control methods (e.g. nets and insecticide sprays) primarily target mosquitoes that enter or attempt to enter human dwellings, yet mosquitoes also obtain significant proportions of essential resources outdoors. Fredros Okumu of Ifakara Health Institute in Tanzania and his co-investigators therefore proposed the use of strategically-located outdoor vector control devices. In this project's Phase I research, the team created new and easy-to-use outdoor methods for luring, trapping and killing mosquitoes, including major African malaria vectors. By combining mosquito lures with mosquito-killing agents, they showed that in addition to trapping, it was consistently possible to contaminate and slowly kill between 74% and 95% of wild malaria vectors visiting the outdoor devices. In Phase II, the team will improve their decoy prototypes and explore practical ways in which the outdoor mosquito control strategy can be implemented by rural and remote communities in malaria endemic areas.