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REVIEW: Exploring the role of spatial emanators in disrupting mosquito behavior

27 Jan 2025
REVIEW: Exploring the role of spatial emanators in disrupting mosquito behavior
A snip from the The Lancet journal with insets of Ifakara Health Institute scientists Johnson Kyeba Swai and Sarah Moore who authored the review. GRAPHIC | IFAKARA Communications

A newly published article titled Beyond Repellents: Spatial Emanators for the Control of Malaria in Africa, co-authored by Ifakara Health Institute scientists Johnson Kyeba Swai and Dr. Sarah Moore, sheds light on the evolution of spatial repellents, a complementary tool for fighting malaria.

Published on The Lancet journal on January 11, 2025, the article explores how spatial emanators have evolved from simple household products in the early 1900s to powerful public health tools today.

Unlike traditional repellents that simply keep mosquitoes at bay, spatial emanators go further – they disrupt mosquito behavior. By interfering with their ability to seek hosts and feed on blood, these emanators effectively reduce mosquito bites, incapacitate the insects, and can even lead to their death. As a result, human–mosquito contact is reduced, affecting the mosquito population, and potentially lower malaria transmission.

With malaria remaining a major public health challenge in Africa, the authors’ insights highlight the promising role of spatial emanators as complementary tools in malaria control strategies.

Read the full article here.

About Johnson Kyeba
Johnson Kyeba is a research scientist at the Ifakara Health Institute and a PhD student at Swiss TPH. An expert in tropical medicine and public health, Kyeba’s research focuses on malaria vector control. He works within the Vector Control Product Testing Unit (VCPTU) at Ifakara, where he conducts product evaluations for companies producing vector control products, including SC Johnson.

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About Sarah Moore
Dr. Sarah Moore is a medical entomologist specializing in the chemical ecology and control of Anopheles mosquitoes. Her work focuses on developing innovative tools to safeguard individuals, households, and communities. Dr. Moore leads the Vector Control Product Testing Unit (VCPTU) at the Ifakara Health Institute in Bagamoyo, Tanzania. With extensive experience in product evaluation, her expertise spans Long-Lasting Insecticidal Nets (LLINs), Indoor Residual Spray (IRS), spatial repellents, topical repellents, odour-baited traps, and Attractive Targeted Sugar Baits, across laboratory, semi-field, and field trials.

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