Tackling the unfolding Anopheles stephensi crisis in Africa: Minimise research and maximise action.

MalariaWorld journal Pub Date : 2025-03-19 eCollection Date: 2025-01-01 DOI:10.5281/zenodo.15052092
Bart G J Knols
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Abstract

When the Asian tiger mosquito (Aedes albopictus) was discovered in the EU for the first time, in a kindergarten in Genua (Italy) in 1990, it was followed initially by a call for action to stop its spread, but gradually turned into a 'study object', resulting in hundreds of research papers since, but very little action in terms of actually trying to eliminate it. Europe is now facing the grave consequences of this lack of action, with dengue, Chikungunya, and West Nile virus already creating problems around the Mediterranean, and aided by climate change both the mosquito and these diseases will move farther north in years to come, posing a risk to millions of people. This history is now repeating itself in the Horn of Africa. It's been thirteen years since Anopheles stephensi, an Asian malaria vector, invaded Djibouti, and has not had much going against it since. And like in Europe, stephensi has become 'the new kid on the block' for academics, and paper after paper (87 in the last 3 years) is coming online, always calling for action in the final paragraphs, but forgetting that mosquitoes don't care about papers and happily continue to conquer more terrain as we sit down to read another paper. Research should focus exclusively on four things: where is the mosquito (surveillance), what works to kill it (control), how do we free areas of it (implementation strategy) and how can we prevent re-invasion of cleared areas. In two of these areas we're almost clueless: strategic area-wide vector elimination and preventing re-invasion. Action in these areas is therefore critical if Africa is to prevent repeating Europe's mistake. And should start with garnering unwavering support and resources from governments of affected countries, regional organisations, and global players. The stephensi problem will not be solved with a dipper searching for larvae in the field. It should start by knocking on politicians' doors, intense lobbying, and succeeding in having the problem addressed with utmost priority. Only then will the means and resources become available to attempt elimination of this invasive vector. Critically, these resources should not affect any ongoing malaria control efforts but should be freed specifically for this purpose. On a more positive note, going aggressively after stephensi would concurrently teach us ways to go after indigenous African vectors in an area-wide fashion, notably through larval source management. Inertia will merely push us all decades backwards in terms of hoping to eliminate malaria in Africa one day.

应对非洲正在展开的斯氏按蚊危机:减少研究,增加行动。
1990年,当亚洲虎蚊(白纹伊蚊)首次在欧盟(意大利)Genua的一所幼儿园被发现时,人们最初呼吁采取行动阻止其传播,但后来逐渐变成了一个“研究对象”,从那以后产生了数百篇研究论文,但在真正试图消灭它方面却很少采取行动。欧洲现在正面临这种缺乏行动的严重后果,登革热、基孔肯雅热和西尼罗河病毒已经在地中海周围造成了问题,在气候变化的帮助下,蚊子和这些疾病将在未来几年进一步向北移动,对数百万人构成威胁。这一历史现在正在非洲之角重演。自从亚洲疟疾媒介斯氏按蚊入侵吉布提已经13年了,从那以后就没有什么对抗它的措施了。就像在欧洲一样,stephensi已经成为学术界的“新人”,一篇又一篇的论文(过去三年有87篇)出现在网上,总是在最后几段呼吁采取行动,但忘记了蚊子不关心论文,在我们坐下来阅读另一篇论文时,它们愉快地继续征服更多的领域。研究应专注于四件事:蚊子在哪里(监测),如何杀死蚊子(控制),我们如何让蚊子在某些地区消失(实施战略),以及我们如何防止已经清除的地区再次入侵。在其中的两个领域,我们几乎毫无头绪:战略性地消灭整个地区的病媒和防止再次入侵。因此,如果非洲要防止重蹈欧洲的覆辙,在这些领域采取行动至关重要。首先应从受影响国家的政府、地区组织和全球参与者那里获得坚定的支持和资源。在田间用斗搜寻幼虫并不能解决斯蒂芬氏虫的问题。它应该从敲开政客们的门开始,进行密集的游说,并成功地把这个问题放在最优先的位置。只有这样,才会有手段和资源来尝试消除这种侵入性载体。至关重要的是,这些资源不应影响任何正在进行的疟疾控制工作,而应专门为此目的腾出资源。从更积极的方面来看,积极追捕斯蒂芬氏菌同时也会教会我们如何以全区域的方式追捕非洲本土病媒,特别是通过幼虫来源管理。惯性只会让我们几十年来一直倒退,不希望有一天在非洲消灭疟疾。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
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