Gene

Voltage

Malaria

Engineering

Ecology

Biotechnology

Biology

Induction motor

Pesticide

Anopheles gambiae

Vector control

Pyrethroid

Biochemistry

Vector (molecular biology)

Environmental health

Resistance (ecology)

Immunology

Veterinary medicine

Bioassay

Bed nets

Toxicology

Medicine

Mosquito net

Anopheles

Mosquito control

Recombinant DNA

Insecticide resistance

Electrical engineering

Pathology

Emerging infectious diseases

Malaria control is dependent on insecticides. Increases in prevalence of insecticide resistance in malaria vectors across Africa are well-documented. However, few attempts have been made to quantify the strength of this resistance and link it to the effectiveness of control tools. Using quantitative bioassays, we show that in Burkina Faso pyrethroid resistance in Anopheles gambiae mosquitoes has increased in intensity in recent years and now exceeds 1,000-fold. In laboratory assays, this level of resistance renders insecticides used to impregnate bed nets ineffective. Thus, the level of personal and community protection afforded by long-lasting insecticide-treated net campaigns will probably be reduced. Standardized methods are needed to quantify resistance levels in malaria vectors and link these levels to failure of vector control methods.

Increased Pyrethroid Resistance in Malaria Vectors and Decreased Bed Net Effectiveness, Burkina Faso