By Emmanuel Gamson
Takoradi, June 16, GNA – Mr John Agbetsi, a Ghanaian Researcher at the New Mexico State University, USA, has called on African governments to invest in advanced scientific systems and technologies in their malaria control and elimination programmes.
Speaking to the Ghana News Agency (GNA), he stated that African countries continued to experience enormous health and economic burdens from mosquito-borne diseases, and that it was imperative for authorities to develop targeted interventions that could disrupt mosquito reproduction, reduce their populations, and ultimately lower malaria transmission.
He said: “We have conducted advanced research to investigate how mosquito legs play a role in detecting odours involved in oviposition, the process by which female mosquitoes choose where to lay eggs.
“This is because, we have realised that for decades, mosquito neuroscience research has focused mainly on the antennae and maxillary palps as the primary organs responsible for odour detection.”
Mr Agbetsi noted that the study found molecular evidence suggesting that mosquito legs helped in odour detection, saying; “Remarkably, gravid Anopheles stephensi mosquitoes were still able to detect indole, an important oviposition chemical cue, even after the removal of their antennae and maxillary palps.”
According to him, the findings meant that health authorities and scientists must develop more effective attractants, traps and oviposition-based vector control tools that specifically targeted pregnant mosquitoes before they reproduced.
Mr Agbetsi said such innovations were urgently needed because traditional mosquito control approaches, including insecticides, were increasingly challenged by insecticide resistance and the rapid spread of invasive malaria vectors such as Anopheles stephensi across Africa.
He said: “For countries where malaria continues to kill thousands of children and pregnant women every year, advances in mosquito sensory biology are not just scientific discoveries, but they represent potential tools for saving lives and strengthening global malaria elimination efforts.”
GNA
Edited by Justina Hilda Paaga/Benjamin Mensah
Reporter: Emmanuel Gamson