Novel Vectors of Malaria Parasite in the Western Highlands of Kenya

The primary malaria control techniques, indoor application of residual insecticides and insecticide-treated bed nets, are used on the basis of previously assumed key characteristics of behaviors of vectors of malaria parasites, i.e., resting and feeding indoors. Any deviation from the typical activities of a species related to exophagy (feeding outdoors) and exophily (living and resting outdoors) or to population replacement, followed by increased outdoor biting or resting, may undermine malaria control efforts. Identification of mosquitoes that transmit malaria parasites has, for the most part, relied on the use of outdated morphologic keys and, more recently, species-diagnostic PCR. Cryptic species or subpopulations that exhibit divergent behaviors may be responsible for maintaining malaria parasite transmission, and without adequate discriminatory techniques, these vectors may be misidentified and their key behavioral differences overlooked.

Citation

Stevenson J, St. Laurent B, Lobo NF, et al. Novel Vectors of Malaria Parasites in the Western Highlands of Kenya. Emerging Infectious Diseases. 2012;18(9):1547-1549. doi:10.3201/eid1809.120283.

Type

Journal Article

Item Description

Emerging Infectious Diseases is published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a U.S. Government agency. Therefore, materials published in Emerging Infectious Diseases, including text, figures, tables, and photographs are in the public domain and can be reprinted or used without permission with proper citation. This is an open access article, available to all readers online, published under a creative commons licensing (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The attached file is the published version of the article.
NHM Repository

ISSN

1080-6040

EISSN

1080-6059