The ability of Anopheles funestus and A. arabiensis to penetrate LLINs and its effect on their mortality

Wellcome Open Research

article

Felician Clement Meza¹  Letus L Muyaga¹  Alex Julius Limwagu¹  Dickson Wilson Lwetoijera¹ 

[1] Environmental Health and Ecological Sciences, Ifakara Health Institute;Life Science and Bioengineering, Nelson Mandela Africa Institution of Science and Technology

关键词: Long -lasting insecticidal nets;    Malaria vectors;    Anopheles funestus;    Anopheles arabiensis;    Malaria;    Tanzania;   

DOI  :  10.12688/wellcomeopenres.18242.3

学科分类：内科医学

来源: Wellcome

【 摘 要 】

Background: Variation in mosquito body size and the ability to penetrate long-lasting insecticide-treated nets (LLINs) remains unknown. This study evaluated the ability ofAnopheles funestus andA. arabiensis to penetrate commercially available treated and untreated bednets and how this behaviour affects mosquito mortality.Methods: Three types of LLINs; DawaPlus 2.0, PermaNet 2.0, Olyset 2.0, and untreated (Safi Net) were tested inside a semi-field system. One hundred 3–5-day-old and non-starved femaleA. funestus andA. arabiensis were released in a chamber with a sleeping adult volunteer under a treated or untreated bednet. Mosquitoes that penetrated inside the nets were collected every two hours using a mouth aspirator. Live mosquitoes were put in paper cups, fed on glucosead libitum and their mortality rate was monitored for 48 h.Results: The ability ofA. funestus to penetrate treated and untreated bednets was significantly higher than forA. arabiensis for all three LLIN net types (P<0.001). For both species the penetration rate was higher for untreated bednets than treated ones except for the Olyset net. Regardless of the assessed mosquito species, all the mosquitoes that penetrated the net, successfully blood-fed on the sleeping volunteer. Compared toA. arabiensis, significant mortality was recorded forA. funestus that were caught inside Olyset nets within 48 hrs of monitoring (P<0.001).Conclusions: These findings demonstrate the ability ofA. funestus andA. arabiensis mosquitoes to penetrate the human-occupied treated and untreated bednets. Despite this ability, mosquitoes that penetrated the bednet succumbed to death within two days.

【 授权许可】

CC BY