Next-generation vector control for malaria: product profiling to implementation

Malaria is a parasitic infection passed between people by infectious mosquito bites that kills about half a million people annually. Mosquito control interventions are therefore crucial and have proven impact. Mass-distributed insecticide-treated bed nets (ITNs) are predicted to have averted > 450 million clinical cases of malaria globally from 2000 to 2015. Mosquitoes have evolved to survive exposure to a key insecticide that is used on nets. This means the protection afforded by ITNs is diminished. ITNs and the spraying of insecticides on the walls of peoples’ homes are designed to kill and deter mosquitoes from indoor environments. Mosquitoes can also bite outdoors, and outdoor biting, that leads to malaria transmission, is estimated to cause > 10 million malaria cases annually in Africa, even were indoor control optimised.
‘Zero by 40’ is a response to this crisis that has generated industrial buy-in from the world’s leading agrichemical companies. Zero by 40 aims to eradicate malaria by uniting these companies so that they can re-purpose or develop new mosquito control tools for both indoor and outdoor protection. These tools must be appropriately assessed to understand their protective benefit. Impact will be distinct in different locations. This is because both mosquitoes and people have distinct local behaviours that change how often people receive infectious bites. New experimental methods are needed to make sure we can understand the full potential of new tools. For example, indoor mosquito control interventions may have less impact if people spend more time outdoors where the intervention cannot prevent bites. The best approach to test new mosquito control tools is to use large-scale field trials. These trials compare clinical cases of malaria over time between communities with or without the intervention. But the expense of such trials, and the length of time needed for following cases (usually 2 to 3 years), is a major challenge. Mathematical models, that can recreate the underlying mechanisms that enable malaria to pass between people and mosquitoes, can be used to predict how new interventions might perform. These models can be defined to represent local communities and mosquito populations, so may capture local differences in impact. The predictions from mathematical models can be compared to observations from field trials to confirm predictions are valid. The model will be used to make predictions on where new tools for mosquito control are likely to perform best. The outcomes can ensure integrated vector control management and delay development of future resistance. This work will be crucial to support agrichemical companies making investment decisions.
Working closely with field scientists in Burkina Faso data will be collated on how mosquitoes are affected by re-purposed or new tools. These data will help understand the biology so that public health impacts of new tools can be predicted using a transmission model. The model predictions will underpin two webtools. The first webtool will provide a platform to industrial partners to explore how imagined interventions might complement those already employed in different countries. Deciding the best settings for different tools, and what makes them affordable to countries trying to control malaria, are crucial questions that can be addressed to enable industries to make robust investment decisions. The second webtool will provide countries making challenging decisions on how to implement interventions within a budget, with a platform to explore different combinations of mosquito control tools so that they can reduce the most cases for the lowest cost. The webtool can support funding requests for additional budget to enable mosquito control within a country. This can maximise our global effort to eliminate by specifying interventions based on local characteristics related to mosquito bites so that interventions maximise public health impact and minimise financial costs.

UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) project details

Product Development
Vector Control

Feb 2021 — Jan 2025

$1.5M

United Kingdom