Insecticide resistance in the malaria vector Anopheles arabiensis in Mamfene, Kwazulu-Natal

• Published in: South African Journal of Science Vol. 111; no. 11-12; pp. 190 - 1
• Main Authors: Brooke, Basil D, Robertson, Leanne, Kaiser, Maria L, Raswiswi, Eric, Munhenga, Givemore, Venter, Nelius, Wood, Oliver R, Koekemoer, Lizette L
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Pretoria African Online Scientific Information Systems (Pty) Ltd t/a AOSIS 01.11.2015; Academy of Science of South Africa
• Subjects: Adults; Anopheles; Anopheles arabiensis; Control; Data analysis; Distribution; Eggs; Insect carriers of disease; Insecticides; Malaria; malaria elimination; malaria vector control; Medical research; Outdoors; Pesticide resistance; Physiological aspects; resistance management; South Africa; Surveillance; vector surveillance; South Africa; South Africa, KwaZulu-Natal
• ISSN: 0038-2353; 1996-7489
• DOI: 10.17159/sajs.2015/20150261

An outdoor Anopheles surveillance system has been set up in three sections of the Mamfene district in northern KwaZulu-Natal in order to assess the extent of outdoor resting An. arabiensis in Mamfene and to assess the current insecticide susceptibility status of this population. According to WHO criteria, the An. arabiensis samples tested showed evidence of resistance to deltamethrin (pyrethroid), DDT (organochlorine) and bendiocarb (carbamate), and full susceptibility to the organophosphates pirimiphos-methyl and fenitrothion. Pre-exposure to piperonyl butoxide completely nullified the deltamethrin resistance otherwise evident in these samples, supporting previous studies implicating monooxygenase-based detoxification as the primary mechanism of pyrethroid resistance. The data presented here affirm the presence of pyrethroid and DDT resistance previously detected in this population and also indicate the comparatively recent emergence of resistance to the carbamate insecticide bendiocarb. These data show that special attention and commitment needs to be given to the principles of insecticide resistance management as well as to investigations into alternative control techniques designed to target outdoor-resting An. arabiensis in northern KwaZulu-Natal.