August 12, 2016.
Mosquito traps to fight against the transmission of malaria, this is the idea that Kenyan and Dutch researchers had. These baits were installed on an African island and have significantly reduced the number of new cases reported.
30% fewer new malaria cases
Kenyan and Dutch researchers have just put into practice a revolutionary system to fight against the transmission of malaria in Africa. The idea is simple, it is a trap that attracts mosquitoes by diffusing a smell similar to that of humans. The results of these baits are very promising and the first results have just been published in the British journal The Lancet.
For three years, these traps were set in homes on the Kenyan island of Rusinga, on Lake Victoria, Kenya. In addition to being ecological, since they work with solar energy, they would have captured 70% of the local mosquito population. A figure which also translates into a clear drop in the number of declared cases of malaria on the island. Researchers estimate that after three years of study, there are 30% fewer new patients.
A trap to fight against dengue and the Zika virus
In addition to the fight against malaria, which is today the deadliest disease in the world, these traps could also be used in areas contaminated by dengue or Zika virus, also transmitted by mosquitoes. These baits also make it possible to offer a real alternative to pesticides which mosquitoes resist better or better.
” Fighting malaria without insecticides is my ultimate dream! »Declared Willem Takken, researcher at Wageningen University and co-author of this study. Malaria is today responsible for the death of a child every minute. The latter are the main victims of this disease which killed 438,000 people in 2015. The goal of the World Health Organization (WHO) is to achieve a reduction of this figure by 90% by 2030.
Read also: Soon a vaccine against malaria?
