The present study investigated mosquito species composition and phenotypic insecticide resistance profile to support decision-making in vector control in the Republic of Djibouti at the Horn of Africa. Adult mosquitoes were collected between December 2016 and December 2017 across 20 sentinel sites established in the 6 regions of the country using both Centers for Disease Control (CDC) miniature light traps and pyrethrum spray catches (PSC). Female mosquitoes were kept aside, for morphological identification to species by an expert entomologist using appropriate taxonomic keys by Gillies & Coetzee and Glick. Bioassays were also conducted in An. stephensi from Djibouti-ville against nine insecticides used in public health. A total number of 12,538 host-seeking mosquitoes belonging to four genera (Anopheles, Culex, Aedes, Uranotaenia) comprising 12 species were collected. Among these, A. gambiae S.L. and A. stephensi were the two major malaria vectors identified while secondary malaria vectors such as A. nili somalicus, A. dthali and A. azaniae were also collected. Culex quinquefasciatus was the most abundant mosquito species in the 6 regions. WHO susceptibility tests performed on A. stephensi population from Djibouti-ville showed resistance to pyrethroids, organophosphates, carbamates and DDT.
A discovery by British scientists has transformed the fight against the world's deadliest disease. You wait for years for a breakthrough in the battle against malaria, and then two come along in two weeks. But the advance announced yesterday by scientists at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute in Cambridge is potentially far more significant than last month's news of an experimental vaccine made by GlaxoSmithKline (and part-funded by Bill Gates), which showed partial success in early clinical trials. Scientists involved in those trials emphasised that the vaccine would only be able to contribute to the control of malaria.