Vector Control

Little is known about the role taste plays in the mosquito feeding process. Paul Breslin of the Monell Chemical Sense Center in the U.S. will test the sensitivity of the mosquito taste system to human skin compounds in an effort to identify key compounds that cue the insects to accept or reject blood meals from humans.

Jefferson Vaughan of the University of North Dakota will seek to augment zooprophylaxis, the practice of using livestock to divert mosquito blood feeding away from humans, by developing an anti-mosquito vaccine for cattle that kill the insect before they bite humans.

Guirong Wang and colleagues at Vanderbilt University in the U.S. have recently identified key sensory heat receptors used by mosquitoes to target hosts. Wang will use these proteins as molecular targets to develop insect repellents and masking agents that block or hyper-stimulate these receptors and reduce the ability of the vectors to find hosts and spread disease.

CO2 present in exhaled air is used by Anopheles mosquitoes to find their human hosts. Anandasankar Ray of University of California-Riverside plans to identify odors that inhibit the mosquito's CO2- sensitive olfactory neurons, and design long-distance repellents that block the ability of mosquitoes to detect humans and protect large areas.

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.

Because DDT is the only insecticide that remains effective for more than a year, Walter Focke of the University of Pretoria in South Africa will investigate how insecticides degrade when applied on an indoor surface. Focke will then study whether combining the insecticide with paint to create a "whitewash" can mitigate this disintegration and enhance stability.

Gong Cheng of Tsinghua University in China will develop a glycan formula as a diet additive that specifically inhibits the lectin-based viral receptors in mosquitos, thereby providing a practical approach against dissemination of multiple mosquito-borne viruses.