Assessment of Anopheles stephensi surveillance needs, practices and priorities in Global Fund-supported countries in the Horn of Africa
Project Abstract
In recent years, An. stephensi, an efficient urban malaria vector for both Plasmodium falciparum and P. vivax, has been reported in several countries outside of the previously known geographical range in South-East Asia and of the Arabian Peninsula. Following detection of the vector for the first time in Djibouti in 2012, it was detected in nearby countries of Ethiopia, Sudan, Somalia, and recently in Nigeria, suggesting its spread is far more extensive. Experiences gained within its traditional geographical range have shown that it can be a highly efficient malaria vector, particularly in urban environments, appearing to quickly adapting itself to the local environment and surviving extremely high temperatures during the dry season, when malaria transmission usually reaches a seasonal low. The rapid spread of the vector’s known range and its efficiency as an urban vector, in the context of rapid and uncontrolled urbanization across sub-Saharan Africa, led the World WHO Global Malaria Programme to publish a vector alert noting the major potential threat the vector poses to malaria control and elimination in sub-Saharan Africa.
The scope of the review includes Djibouti, Eritrea, Yemen, Sudan, South Sudan, Somalia and Ethiopia and should contribute to a better understanding of the status of existing surveillance systems to provide adequate data to national malaria programmes to inform their national response to this public health emergency.
We will assess the current landscape of Anopheles stephensi surveillance systems in African countries in and around the Horn of Africa, the initial aera of An. stephensi emergence in sub-Sahara Africa. Whilst the focus of the work is on surveillance, approaches to vector control interventions in response to the An. stephensi presence or threat will be also documented. Information gathered from this review will provide cross-country learning, enable adaptation of surveillance programming within the current grant cycle, as well as inform grant design through costed surveillance plans for NFM4 leading to better malaria estimates and targeted responses in the future.
