Reduced mosquito survival in metal-roof houses may contribute to a decline in malaria transmission in sub-Saharan Africa

Lindsay, Steve W., Jawara, Musa, Mwesigwa, Julia, Achan, Jane, Bayoh, Nabie, Bradley, John, Kandeh, Balla, Kirby, Matthew J., Knudsen, Jakob, Macdonald, Mike, Pinder, Margaret, Tusting, Lucy S., Weiss, Dan J., Wilson, Anne ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7387-353X and D’Alessandro, Umberto (2019) 'Reduced mosquito survival in metal-roof houses may contribute to a decline in malaria transmission in sub-Saharan Africa'. Scientific Reports, Vol 9, Issue 1, e7770.

Preview

Text AW_SR.pdf - Published Version Available under License Creative Commons Attribution. Download (1MB) | Preview

Abstract

In The Gambia, metal-roof houses were hotter during the day than thatched-roof houses. After 24 h, the mortality of Anopheles gambiae, the principal African malaria vector, was 38% higher in metal-roof houses than thatched ones. During the day, mosquitoes in metal-roof houses moved from the hot roof to cooler places near the floor, where the temperature was still high, reaching 35 °C. In laboratory studies, at 35 °C few mosquitoes survived 10 days, the minimum period required for malaria parasite development. Analysis of epidemiological data showed there was less malaria and lower vector survival rates in Gambian villages with a higher proportion of metal roofs. Our findings are consistent with the hypothesis that the indoor climate of metal-roof houses, with higher temperatures and lower humidity, reduces survivorship of indoor-resting mosquitoes and may have contributed to the observed reduction in malaria burden in parts of sub-Saharan Africa.

Item Type:	Article
Subjects:	QX Parasitology > Insects. Other Parasites > QX 510 Mosquitoes WA Public Health > Health Problems of Special Population Groups > WA 395 Health in developing countries WA Public Health > Housing. Buildings. Public Facilities > WA 795 Housing WC Communicable Diseases > Tropical and Parasitic Diseases > WC 750 Malaria WC Communicable Diseases > Tropical and Parasitic Diseases > WC 765 Prevention and control
Faculty: Department:	Biological Sciences > Vector Biology Department
Digital Object Identifer (DOI):	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-43816-0
Depositing User:	Stacy Murtagh
Date Deposited:	31 May 2019 12:51
Last Modified:	06 Sep 2019 08:54
URI:	https://archive.lstmed.ac.uk/id/eprint/10937

Statistics

View details

Actions (login required)

Edit Item