Mali ICEMR: Malaria Vector Ecology and Transmission Dynamics

总结 ICEMR的这一项目侧重于西非马里的按蚊疟疾病媒种群的生态学。 非洲，与大多数非洲国家一样，目前在室内使用的病媒控制工具不足以 成功控制疟疾并在当地消灭疟疾。更好地了解疟疾病媒， 需要传输生态。对疟疾病媒的研究通常在村庄进行， 在那里蚊子吸血并传播疟疾寄生虫我们对它是如何运作的知之甚少。 村庄外围以外的病媒生态影响传播。村外生态的主要差距 在传播动力学的理解中，代表一个主要空白的问题包括：1）来源和生存 病媒种群在漫长旱季的生存策略; 2）病媒的生存和传播潜力 受当地用于休息和喂糖的环境资源的影响;以及3）最近- 在按蚊体内发现的沃尔巴克氏体自然感染可能会影响传播。因此 该项目的目标是调查疟疾病媒和传播场的重要方面 在马里的四个地点进行了生态评估，代表了横跨撒哈拉以南萨赫勒地区的三个主要生态区。 研究地点的病媒种群、季节性恶性疟原虫 传播和疟疾流行病学。该项目以马里广泛的初步研究为基础， 包括三个具体目标：1）评估疟疾病媒如何利用有限的自然和往往神秘的栖息地， 在旱季的避难所，以及这些栖息地如何作为人口扩张的来源， 2）确定当地环境资源如何用于病媒休息和喂糖 行为影响疟疾寄生虫传播动力学;和3）调查沃尔巴克氏体的流行率， 不同环境下冈比亚按蚊复合群自然种群中的恶性疟原虫寄生虫 生态环境和实验测试沃尔巴克氏体如何影响载体能力。创新方面 包括：第一，初步结果表明，沿着尼日尔河，在干旱期间， 季节性高密度的冈比亚按蚊复合体蚊子存在，实际上主要以 鸟类，使人们相信，一个综合的方法（地面搜索，相机安装无人机，卫星， 图像）可用于识别和界定作为病媒种群来源的神秘旱季生境 在旱季。其次，这是第一项研究，以解决如何载体糖喂养和 特别是栖息在入侵植物和农业植物上会影响传播。第三，这是第一次纵向 这是对沃尔巴克氏体感染非洲疟疾病媒种群的生态学研究，也是第一个研究沃尔巴克氏体如何感染疟疾病媒种群的生态学研究。 沃尔巴克氏体感染影响媒介能力。关于媒介生态如何影响传播的新见解 马里的三个生态区将提供实地证据，以了解如何克服主要的 在西非消除疟疾的障碍。 !

SUMMARY This project of the ICEMR focuses on the ecology of Anopheles malaria vector populations in Mali, West Africa, where, as in most African countries, current vector control tools used inside houses are not sufficient to achieve successful malaria control and local elimination. A better understanding of malaria vector and transmission ecology is needed. Research on malaria vectors is typically done in villages because this is where mosquitoes blood-feed on humans and transmit malaria parasites. Much less is known about how the ecology of vectors beyond the periphery of villages affects transmission. Key gaps in outside-village ecology that represent a major void in the understanding of transmission dynamics include: 1) sources and survival strategies of vector populations during the long dry season; 2) how vector survival and transmission potential are influenced by local environmental resources used for resting and sugar feeding; and 3) how recently- discovered natural infections of Wolbachia in anopheline mosquitoes may impact transmission. Therefore, the goal of this project is to investigate important neglected aspects of malaria vector and transmission field ecology at four sites in Mali, representing three major eco-zones that span the sub-Saharan Sahel region. Study sites are already well characterized with respect to vector populations, seasonal Plasmodium falciparum transmission, and malaria epidemiology. This project, which builds on extensive preliminary studies in Mali, includes three specific aims: 1) Evaluate how malaria vectors use limited natural and often cryptic habitats as refugia during the dry season and how these habitats serve as the source for population expansion with the onset of rains; 2) Determine how local environmental resources used for vector resting and sugar-feeding behavior impact malaria parasite transmission dynamics; and 3) Investigate the prevalence of Wolbachia and Plasmodium falciparum parasites in natural populations of the Anopheles gambiae complex in different ecological settings and experimentally test how Wolbachia affects vector competence. Innovative aspects include: First, preliminary results demonstrating isolated refugia along the River Niger, where during the dry season high densities of Anopheles gambiae complex mosquitoes exist and actually feed predominantly on birds, gives confidence that an integrated approach (ground searches, camera mounted drones, and satellite imagery) can be used to identify and define cryptic dry season habitats that are sources of vector populations during the dry season. Second, this is the first study to address the question of how vector sugar-feeding and resting specifically on invasive and agricultural plants affects transmission. Third, this is the first longitudinal ecological study of Wolbachia infecting malaria vector populations in Africa, and the first to examine how Wolbachia infections impact vector competence. New insights how on vector ecology impacts transmission in three eco-zones in Mali will provide field-based evidence needed for understanding how to overcome major barriers to malaria elimination in West Africa. !