The Limited Times

Now you can see non-English news...

An invasive super-mosquito introduces malaria to African cities

2022-12-27T16:07:51.891Z


The WHO warns of the risk of expansion of 'Anopheles stephensi', which is already in five countries in Africa. It resists drought and insecticides, and tends to proliferate in shantytowns.


An Asian mosquito capable of surviving in urban environments threatens to undermine progress against malaria in Africa.

In its annual report on the disease, the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that the arrival of '

Anopheles stephensi'

in at least five African countries is a "real risk" for the control and elimination of the disease. on the continent, which accumulates 96% of the more than 600,000 deaths from malaria globally.

This mosquito originating from the Arabian Peninsula and South Asia entered through Djibouti, in eastern Africa, and has already been detected in Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan and even Nigeria, in the west of the continent.

"Its expansion through the Horn of Africa, combined with rapid and poorly planned urbanization, may increase the risk of transmission in African cities," explains the WHO document.

This mosquito originating from the Arabian Peninsula and South Asia entered through Djibouti, in East Africa, and has already been detected in Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan and even Nigeria.

The organization outlines the reasons for its concern: the vector is resistant to several of the most widely used insecticides and survives extremely high temperatures during the dry season, which is usually when there are fewer cases of malaria.

In addition, it can bite both indoors and outdoors, and transmit various variants of

Plasmodium

, the parasite that causes disease.

And, unlike other mosquito species, the

stephensi

adapts very well to cities and is capable of breeding in any corner with stagnant water, even in deep wells.

According to the WHO, the entry of this vector into sub-Saharan Africa is especially worrying because 40% of the population lives in cities and it is expected that, by the end of the century, the region will have 13 of the 20 largest cities in the world, compared to two current.

The more inequality, the more risk

The problem is not so much urbanization, but the growth of informal settlements without good sewerage, hygiene and sanitation systems.

As with diseases like Zika, malaria caused by

stephensi

threatens people living in slums, amid puddled potholes, makeshift dumps and abandoned tires.

Anopheles stephensi

has gone from being a potential threat to a very real danger and one that is spreading”, Regina Rabinovich, director of the Initiative for the Elimination of Malaria at ISGlobal (Barcelona), told EL PAÍS.

"The challenge now is to map where it is and address the risks it poses, both through science and through public health systems."

The WHO launched a global initiative to curb the advance of the super mosquito this year, and remains steadfast in its goal of reducing malaria cases by 90 percent by 2030 from 2015 levels.

The keys to the annual report on malaria

Malaria remains one of the world's deadliest infectious diseases.

According to the WHO report, it killed 619,000 people in 2021, slightly less than in the previous year, but above pre-Covid-19 levels (568,000).

What did increase were the number of cases, which reached 247 million in 2021, up from 245 in the previous year and 132 million before the pandemic.

"Although hard hit [by the effects of Covid-19], most countries endured the type and were able to maintain services to prevent, detect and treat malaria, quite a feat," said the director general of WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

Climate change and long-distance travel could take malaria-carrying mosquitoes to new latitudes;

places that are not prepared to prevent, detect and treat the disease

Apart from the expansion of the Asian super mosquito, other challenges facing countries are the evolution of these insects, which continue to develop resistance to conventional insecticides, and of the parasite, which is changing to go undetected in diagnostic tests and to stand up to the medicines.

Then there is the combination of climate change and long-distance travel, which could take malaria-carrying mosquitoes to new latitudes;

places that are not prepared to prevent, detect and treat the disease.

And the effects of various humanitarian crises in areas such as the Sahel, Ethiopia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo are also weighing, as well as the staggering of the world economy fueled by the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

In 2021, global investment in malaria reached 3,300 million euros, but it remains well below the 6,900 that is considered necessary to achieve the objectives of control and elimination of the disease.

Reasons for optimism

Science is advancing to stay one step ahead of mosquitoes and the parasites behind malaria.

By the end of 2023, millions of children in high-risk areas will receive the first-ever malaria vaccine, known as RTS,S, with a couple more in development.

In addition, mosquito nets impregnated with various long-lasting insecticides are being tested, the possibility of genetically manipulating vector mosquitoes so that they stop transmitting the parasite is being explored, and work is being done on new drugs and tests to overcome resistance.

Since the year 2000, more than 20 countries have managed to eliminate malaria cases.

In 2021, China and El Salvador were declared malaria-free, and other countries are close to emulating this milestone.

Achieving this, according to the WHO and experts, will require stronger primary health systems and increased investment in science and products against urban malaria, as well as drug resistance.

You can follow PLANETA FUTURO on

Twitter

,

Facebook

and

Instagram

, and subscribe

here

to our 'newsletter'

.

Source: elparis

All news articles on 2022-12-27

You may like

Life/Entertain 2024-02-12T20:58:43.810Z
News/Politics 2024-03-17T13:36:52.716Z

Trends 24h

News/Politics 2024-03-28T06:04:53.137Z

Latest

© Communities 2019 - Privacy

The information on this site is from external sources that are not under our control.
The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.