Infectious Disease

In Tanzania, the Africa Technical Research Institute will lead the design and manufacture of attractive, affordable insecticide-treated clothing. Treated fashions attract consumers while repelling vectors. Personal protection as clothing or accessories can be used indoors, outdoors, day or night, to reduce vector transmission. Affordable designs create consistent demand for locally manufactured styles.

In Tanzania, the Ifakara Health Institute will develop anti-mosquito footwear material that slowly releases repellents from the friction of walking.  A key advantage: no compliance or change in habits required. Mosquitoes mostly bite people on their feet and ankles. We propose the use of footwear fitted with repellent-impregnated material,to deter blood-seeking mosquitoes from people during the times when and where existing control measures are ineffective.

A simple way to lure, trap and kill malarial mosquitos with a deadly fruit meal in a device easy to make at home from plastic drink bottles.  Manufacture of the traps creates a potential village income opportunity.

This innovative fabric mosquito trap fitted into a window works like a lobster trap: the insect enters easily through a funnel but cannot escape, offering a way to control malaria with an environmentally-friendly technology that can be easily and broadly manufactured.

Endemic countries need practical ways to evaluate malaria interventions. I will use cheap near infrared spectrometry to identify important vectors and tell if they are old enough to transmit disease, a potentially easy way to monitor vector control.

The majority of all 243 million reported cases of malaria worldwide occur in children under five in Africa. While effective treatment has lowered the mortality rate, current malaria interventions are unlikely to halt the actual transmission of the disease, showing the need for supplementary intervention measures. This project aims to introduce biolarvicides in rice farming practices in rural Tanzania, as an innovative approach in malaria control.

This project will promote placement of lemon grass (Cymbopogon citratus) around houses as a way to drive off mosquitos and reduce malaria.

Uganda’s Med Biotech Laboratories, meanwhile, will produce a colorful, insecticide-infused ‘plaster’ for the outside walls of African village homes. Mud-huts in rural Africa are ‘smeared’ with a plaster of colored materials to give them an attractive appearance. By incorporating insecticides into ‘plaster’ materials, our idea turns this practice into a low-tech for malaria eradication.

Our proposal aims at development of a novel anti-mosquito blend applicable in integrated vector management of malaria vectors. Reduced malaria transmission has the potential of locally eliminating malaria, ultimately reducing percentage of population at risk and mortality resulting from malaria in Kenya. Follow Clarence Mang'era on Twitter @clamazing"

Modification of typical rural house by installing ventilated ceiling made from local mats is likely to decrease malaria transmission by reducing entry of malaria vectors known to enter houses later in the night through open eaves of funnel-shaped rural houses. Click HERE to Download the photos below. Follow Harrysone Atieli on Twitter @HarrysAtieli[caption id=""attachment_7990"align=""aligncenter"width=""300""] A typical funnel-shaped rural house in Kenya has open eaves, which allows for easy entry of mosquitoes potentially transmitting malaria.