A malaria-carrying mosquito that thrives in urban environments is moving into Africa where a construction boom may be one factor helping the newcomer feel at home.
Lancet Planetary Health published the findings on the ecology of the invasive Anopheles stephensi mosquito led by Gonzalo Vazquez-Prokopec, a professor in Emory University’s Department of Environmental Sciences.
The invasion of stephensi poses a major threat to urban populations in Africa, where malaria has primarily been a rural disease. While most of the limited data available on stephensi in Africa has been gathered during the rainy season, this study focused on the city of Jigjiga in eastern Ethiopia during the peak of the dry season.
Stephensi was first detected in Jigjiga in 2018 and has persisted there despite harsh dry seasons of around three rainless months.
“We found that during this period of low-water availability, Anopheles stephensi is primarily exploiting habitats associated with construction,” says Vazquez-Prokopec, a leading expert in the disease ecology of urban mosquitos.
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