Abstract
BackgroundThere is a global consensus that new intervention tools are needed to cross the last miles in malaria elimination/eradication. In a recent study in Burkina Faso, the Lehmann Funnel Entry Trap (LFET) have shown excellent promise in mosquito densities reducing even in area of high insecticide resistance up to 80%. It requires no chemicals and is self-operated. However, one of the issues of the LFET is the big size of the funnel occupying lot of space inside houses. Here we compared the performance of three new prototypes of LFET with reduced size that combine screening and killing effect on mosquitoes. MethodsThe study was carried out for three months during the rainy season both in low and high malaria vector density sites, Soumousso and Vallée du Kou respectively. The original LFET was modified and 3 new prototypes were produced locally and tested over 3 months (8 days/month) to evaluate their effectiveness in trapping and killing mosquitoes entering houses through the windows. ResultsIn both sites, an overall of 78,435 culicine mosquitoes collected in both traps and houses and most of them were mainly Anopheles gambiae s.l. n= 76,558 (98%) and other species represented n = 1,877 (2%). Of the culicine caught in the trial, n= 55,256 (72%) were collected in traps. The 3 new LFET prototypes reduced the indoor density of mosquitoes collected in the houses by a range of 36 to 73% and 69 to 70% in low vector density setting, Soumousso and high vector density area, Vallée du Kou respectively. The prototype 1 caught a greater number of mosquitoes than the prototype 2 whereas no difference was observed between other prototypes in VK3. In Soumousso, the prototypes 1 and 2 collected significantly higher number of mosquitoes compared to the prototypes 3 and 4. ConclusionThis study has shown that the new LFET prototypes are promising for malaria vector control and could enter in the malaria vector control toolbox in the coming years. Therefore, a large-scale study with one of the prototypes is needed on the practical ability and community acceptance of the LFET to control malaria vectors.
Do malaria vector control measures impact disease-related behaviour and knowledge? Evidence from a large-scale larviciding intervention in Tanzania