Novel Vectors of Malaria Parasite in the Western Highlands of Kenya

Abstract

The primary malaria control techniques, indoor application of residual insecticides and insecticide-treated bed nets, are used on the basis of previously assumed key characteristics of behaviors of vectors of malaria parasites, i.e., resting and feeding indoors. Any deviation from the typical activities of a species related to exophagy (feeding outdoors) and exophily (living and resting outdoors) or to population replacement, followed by increased outdoor biting or resting, may undermine malaria control efforts. Identification of mosquitoes that transmit malaria parasites has, for the most part, relied on the use of outdated morphologic keys and, more recently, species-diagnostic PCR. Cryptic species or subpopulations that exhibit divergent behaviors may be responsible for maintaining malaria parasite transmission, and without adequate discriminatory techniques, these vectors may be misidentified and their key behavioral differences overlooked.