Disappearance of mosquitoes from some parts of Africa puzzles researchers

Aug 29 2011

"Malaria-carrying mosquitoes are disappearing in some parts of Africa, ... indicat[ing] controls such as anti-mosquito bed nets are having a significant impact on the incidence of malaria in some sub-Saharan countries," researchers report in a paper published in Malaria Journal, according to BBC News. But the team of Danish and Tanzanian "researchers say mosquitoes are also disappearing from areas with few controls," and "[t]hey are uncertain if mosquitoes are being eradicated or whether they will return with renewed vigor," the news agency writes (McGrath, 8/26).

"Many of our fellow malaria researchers think that the fall in countries such as Tanzania, Eritrea, Rwanda, Kenya and Zambia shows that all the control programs are working, particularly the use of mosquito nets, says Associate Professor Dan Meyrowitsch from the Department of Health Services Research at the University of Copenhagen, and continues: That just isn't the whole story," according to Health Canal. "[T]he question is whether the mosquitoes have succumbed to disease, or communities have been using pesticides, or whether the fall is due to the chaotic new precipitation patterns," Health Canal writes (8/25).