According to the latest World Health Organization’s malaria report, there were 249 million cases of malaria in 2022. The African Region is home to 94% of all malaria cases and 95% of all deaths.
With much at stake in the fight against malaria, UC Irvine researchers were awarded a two-year grant by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases to develop new tools to help monitor its spread.
Acting as co-principal investigators from the UC Irvine Program in Public Health are Chloe Wang, PhD, a specialist in population health and disease prevention, and Guiyun Yan, PhD, professor of population health and disease prevention, who will collaborate with Anthony James, PhD, of UCI’s School of Biological Sciences and Philip Felgner, MD, of UCI School of Medicine.
Efforts to address the malaria burden are met with many challenges. Recent invasions of Anopheles stephensi mosquitoes – native to South Asia – pose increased risk to urban populations in Africa. An. stephensi, a confirmed vector of malaria parasites, not only thrives well in African urban environments, but also is resistant to multiple classes of commonly used insecticides for malaria vector control.
Our study is bringing a novel approach to a critical need in early detection and control of An. stephensi and ultimately reduce the disproportionate burden of malaria in Africa.”
– Chloe Wang, PhD
Monitoring and controlling of An. stephensi proliferation in Africa is a significant undertaking, but the traditional mosquito surveillance tools have limited sensitivity. For example, current blood tests cannot differentiate between An. stephensi exposure and those of native Anopheles species.
The researchers plan to use peptide microarray technology (rapid profiling of proteins and other biological data) to identify mosquito salivary biomarkers that can be used to monitor human exposure to An. stephensi. Given the potential coexistence of native malaria mosquito species with An. stephensi, the new biomarkers must discern exposure to An. stephensi from that of the native vector species. The funding will also support field studies in Ethiopia to validate the biomarkers. It is anticipated that the new tool will eventually generate new serological biomarkers for tracking the spread of An. stephensi mosquitos.
“With the increase of urbanization in African countries, traditional methods of mosquito surveillance like CDC light traps don’t work as well because of the elevated light conditions in urban environments,” says Wang. “Our study is bringing a novel approach to a critical need in early detection and control of An. stephensi and ultimately reduce the disproportionate burden of malaria in Africa.”
