Djibouti Friendly™ Mosquito Program Launches New Phase of Preparatory Field Ecology Studies in Malaria-Threatened Communities

ANNOUNCEMENT

Djibouti Friendly™ Mosquito Program Launches New Phase of Preparatory Field Ecology Studies in Malaria-Threatened Communities

• In partnership with Djibouti’s National Malaria Control Programme (PNLP) and the public health not-for-profit, Association Mutualis, Oxitec is undertaking a new phase of field ecology studies of the invasive urban malaria vector, Anopheles stephensi.

• The first phase of this pilot project, due to commence on 18th February, will assess the dispersal and longevity of normal, non-biting male Anopheles stephensi mosquitoes, by releasing and recapturing colour-marked males. Male mosquitoes do not bite.

• The data collected from these releases will help the project team understand this species’ natural behaviours in the wild and thus help prepare for future planned pilots of self-limiting male Anopheles stephensi in collaboration with communities and partners.

Partners in the Djibouti Friendly™ Mosquito Program – Djibouti’s National Malaria Control Programme (PNLP), the not-for-profit Association Mutualis and Oxitec – have announced that the next phase of field ecology studies will begin this month. Following the project’s first workshop in Djibouti involving local, regional and global stakeholders in January, this phase will see the release and recapture of non-modified, non-biting male Anopheles stephensi mosquitoes in communities in the south of Djibouti City. The resulting data, showing where colour-marked male mosquitoes are recaptured in and around these communities, will enable the project team to assess the biological parameters of this species, including their lifespan and dispersal. Male Anopheles stephensi mosquitoes do not bite and cannot spread disease.

This first phase lays the groundwork for future project pilots, in which Oxitec’s Friendly™ Anopheles stephensi mosquitoes will be deployed in the field by the project team and communities to validate the solution as an environmentally sustainable vector control tool for this difficult-to control mosquito.

Since its arrival on the African continent, in Djibouti around 2012, the invasive, urban-dwelling Anopheles stephensi has caused significant increases in malaria in and around Djibouti’s capital city This urban threat has already spread to Ethiopia, Sudan, Somalia, Kenya and Nigeria, and is predicted to spread much further.

With this invasive vector predicted to trigger malaria outbreaks in major cities across Africa, where an estimated 120 million people are at risk, new and sustainable mosquito control tools are urgently needed.

To learn more about the Djibouti Friendly™ Mosquito Program click here.