Health experts have raised concerns about the increasing nature of mosquitoes that transmit malaria to learn human behaviour.
The scientists yesterday observed that some of the malaria control measures traditionally practised are becoming obsolete at a high rate because of new tactics being employed by mosquitoes upon learning human behaviour.
“Mosquitoes learn and change their biting behaviour, they learn things like someone’s bedtime. So if you have well-protected nets and you sleep around 10pm, they will change the habits and will be very active in biting between 7pm and 10pm before you get to bed,” Prof Charles Mbogo, president Pan African Mosquito Control Association, said.
He was speaking at Hilton Hotel, Nairobi, during a forum organised by the African Institute for Development Policy in partnership with the Kenya Editors Guild.
Prof Mbogo warned that mosquitoes have also developed resistance to insecticides, including parathyroid that is commonly used for the treatment of mosquito nets.
“This means that if the spraying has been done, they can still access you,” Prof Mbogo said.
“Counties like Kakamega, Busia and Bungoma have benefited from pyrethroid nets, but this is not enough as, over time, mosquitoes have become resistant to the insecticide.”
To deal with this, Prof Mbogo said new technologies are being deployed. One of the new methods of dealing with mosquitoes, he said, is the use of toxic sugar baits.
“All mosquitoes need more sugar than blood to survive and to fix that, they get this from nectar flowers and other plants. Mosquitoes are attracted by scented odours, so this method is about production of scented sugar bait,” he said.
“The bait is just small in a container that is hanged in the house to attract mosquitoes, and once they eat, they all die,” said Prof Mbogo. This, he said, is already being experimented in Western Kenya where malaria prevalence is high.
He said research has also established that poorly ventilated houses attract more mosquitoes, hence contribute greatly to the spread of malaria.
“This calls for more involvement of professionals in building homes, for instance, engineers and architects,” he said.
Prof Mbogo further said experiments are ongoing on genetic modifications to ensure malaria-causing mosquitoes lay unviable eggs.
And according to Prof Richard Mukabana, a lecturer at the University of Nairobi's Department of Biology, new research aims at blinding mosquitoes to prevent them from smelling and detecting human beings.
There is also an ongoing development of mosquitoes that once they mate with a wild mosquito, the sperm is automatically destroyed hence no offspring.
He, however, expressed concern that Kenya has been reluctant to grant permits on genetically modified organisms.
Dr Wily Tonui, the chairman of the environmental health and safety, warned that limitations such as getting the permits, which is governed by the national biosafety authority risks Kenya losing on technological revolution, something that will impact the country greatly.
