Construction sites offer ideal breeding grounds for mosquitoes.Credit: ChrisVanLennepPhoto/ iStock / Getty Images Plus
Water reservoirs used for construction activity are creating urban breeding grounds for the Anopheles stephensi mosquito, which is thwarting malaria control efforts.
Anopheles stephensi has been a major vector of malaria in Asia and the Arabian Peninsula, but since 2012, it has become a threat to malaria control and elimination efforts in Africa. Unlike other species, it’s adept at surviving dry seasons and is resistant to insecticides.
A study on Anopheles stephensi by researchers from Emory University, in Atlanta, in the United States, in collaboration with entomologists at Jigjiga University in Ethiopia investigated its activity in Jigjiga City during the peak of the dry season.
“Larval source management, such as eliminating or treating water containers associated with construction, may offer a unique opportunity for focused control of Anopheles,” says Solomon Yared, an entomologist at Jigjiga University who co-led the research study.
Their results were published in the Lancet Planetary Health.
