Impact of Environmental Modifications on Vector Ecology and Transmission of Plasmodium falciparum and P. vivax Malaria

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PROJECT 2 PROJECT SUMMARY Impact of Environmental Modifications on Vector Ecology and Transmission of Plasmodium falciparum and P. vivax Malaria Most of the population in sub-Saharan Africa faces the constant threat of famine. Approaches to the famine problem need to address the underlying conditions that make food shortages endemic. Construction of dams and irrigated agricultural farms has been widely recognized as a key solution to promoting food security and alleviating poverty. A large number of dams, microdams and irrigated farms have been developed in Africa in the past decade, and many are under construction or being planned. These water resource development projects are anticipated to cause major changes in the ecology of malaria vectors. How changes to the vector ecology alter transmission dynamics is however not clear. New interventions that can effectively suppress malaria transmission while simultaneously increasing agricultural productivity are urgently needed. The central objective of this project is to examine the impact of environmental modifications from water resource development projects on vector ecology and malaria transmission in Kenya and Ethiopia. The central hypothesis is that malaria transmission dynamics is strongly influenced by environmental modifications from water resource development projects. These water resource development projects create more stable and productive breeding sites and disrupt transmission. As a result, seasonality, spatial distribution, vector community structure, and vector competence get altered. We propose four specific aims: 1) assess the impact of environmental modifications from water resource development projects on vector bionomics and malaria transmission dynamics, 2) determine the effects of environmental modifications on vector population genetics and vector competence, 3) evaluate the impact of next-generation nets recently introduced as a part of the public health program, on malaria incidence and vector insecticide resistance under different environmental conditions, and 4) model the cost-effectiveness of novel integrated vector management approaches suitable to areas with extensive environmental modifications. The project will significantly enhance our understanding of the impact of environmental modifications on malaria vector ecology and the underlying ecological and genetic mechanisms for altered transmission. Through modeling of cost-effectiveness of new integrated vector intervention approaches, this project will provide important information that can guide future field trial design and inform policy makers of new malaria control approaches. Malaria outdoor transmission, pyrethroid resistance, and environmental modifications are presently of great concern and urgent issues that need to be addressed globally. Thus, our results can have far reaching and broad implications on malaria prevention and control.