Human-biting patterns of malaria vectors and optimization of operational sampling methods for measuring malaria transmission intensity in Dar es Salaam

Sponsor: Environmental Health Project, United States Agency for International Development.

IHRDC Investigators: GF Killeen & H Mshinda
Partners: M Kiama & D Mtasiwa; Dar es Salaam City Council; M Tanner; Swiss Tropical Institute, Switzerland, SW Lindsay & U Fillinger; University of Durham, UK

Based on recent programmatic observations, we hypothesize that the major malaria vectors of Dar es Salaam are now feeding extensively on humans when they are outdoors in the early part of the night and evening and this is where and when the residents of Dar es Salaam are most at risk from contracting malaria. We are therefore testing this hypothesis and optimizing a protocol for operational sampling of malaria vectors as part of the Dar es Salaam Urban Malaria Control Programme.