A researcher at Ifakara Health Research and Development Centre and student at UDSM develops new anti- malaria technique  

 

A researcher at Ifakara Health Research and Development Centre and student at University of Dar es Salaam student discovered the use of natural microbes that kill malaria-transmitting mosquitoes.

The discovery has already been published in this months (June 2005) Science journal that will be released by the Ministry of Health.

In the research conducted by the student, Kija Ng’habi, 26, the new malaria-control method involves infecting mosquitoes with fungi before they suck human blood, and as a result the fungus reduces drastically the transmission of the parasites that cause the disease by killing the agent.

Explaining the method at a press conference at the Ministry of Health headquarters yesterday, Ng’habi said inert fungal spores are impregnated on the cloth or net, or sprayed on walls or ceilings from where the mosquitoes can ingest them.

``When a mosquito comes into contact with the spores, the fungus germinates, penetrating the mosquito and grows within it.

The mosquito succumbs to the fungus before it begins to transmit the malaria parasite, He explained.

Ng’habi conducted his research at the Ifakara Health Research and Development Centre in collaboration with the Swiss Tropical Institute in Basel, Switzerland and Wageningen University of The Netherlands.

``Mathematical calculations conducted during the research showed that the use of fungal-impregnated sheets could reduce the incidence that malaria-transmitting mosquitoes bite people in Ifakara from at least once a day to once every three weeks,``the Chief Medical Officer, Dr Gabriel Upunda, told reporters in Dar es Salaam.

He said the new development would complement the ongoing malaria control techniques in the country.

``As the National Malaria Control Programme actively promotes bed nets and makes new artemisinin-based drugs available, additional environmentally friendly approaches are also being identified and evaluated,``he said.

The new fungus might present a future bio-control option for killing mature mosquitoes before they become old enough to transmit malaria parasites, he added.

Speaking at the event, Dr Hassan Mshinda, a senior researcher and Director of the Ifakara health research and Development Centre, said the research findings are a major challenge to science students.

``They now know that discovery is not only done by Western scientists, but students in Tanzania institutions can also make such achievements, `` he stressed.

He added that the government has to increase funding for researches to enable students to come up with such discoveries. 

This story has been adapted from www.ippmedia.com