Scientists are reporting that there has been a dramatic decline in mosquito populations in areas of Africa that is not attributable to mosquitop control measures. This has also meant a dramatic drop in the number of malaria infections which is incredibly good news.
I wish we could report the same thing happening to politicians with a concomitant decline in corruption and rampant socialist legislation.Malaria-carrying mosquitoes are disappearing in some parts of Africa, but scientists are unsure as to why.
Figures indicate controls such as anti-mosquito bed nets are having a significant impact on the incidence of malaria in some sub-Saharan countries.
But in Malaria Journal, researchers say mosquitoes are also disappearing from areas with few controls.
They are uncertain if mosquitoes are being eradicated or whether they will return with renewed vigour.
Data from countries such as Tanzania, Eritrea, Rwanda, Kenya and Zambia all indicate that the incidence of malaria is dropping fast.
Researchers believe this is due to effective implementation of control programmes, especially the deployment of bed nets treated with insecticide.
But a team of Danish and Tanzanian scientists say this is not the whole story. For more than 10 years they have been collecting and counting the number of mosquitoes caught in thousands of traps in Tanzania. In 2004 they caught over 5,000 insects. In 2009 that had dropped to just 14.
More importantly, these collections took place in villages that weren't using bed nets.
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