World’s first nationwide platform for monitoring dangerous mosquito behaviours

28 May 2026

Tanzania establishes world’s first nationally representative system for sustained monitoring of interacting mosquito and human behaviours that determine successes and limitations of malaria vector control

In an article in the Malaria Journal, a Tanzanian team of investigators collaborating with Prof Gerry Killeen at UCC-BEES describe how they established the world’s first nationally representative platform for routine programmatic surveillance of the key behavioural interactions between mosquitoes and humans that determine how well malaria vector control works across different parts of the country (https://doi.org/10.1186/s12936-026-05893-1).

Prof Nicodem Govella and his team at the Ifakara Health Institute (https://www.ihi.or.tz/), an internationally renowned centre of excellence in malaria vector biology and control, describe how they combined several novel mosquito collection and data analysis techniques to explain how locally idiosyncratic habits of mosquitoes and people shape remarkably variable malaria transmission patterns across Tanzania. Specifically, they surveyed what mammals mosquitoes feed upon, when and where they attack people, and the distinctive exposure patterns of different age groups, all of which determine just how effective insecticidal bednets and additional protective measures, like repellents and window screening, can be for preventing malaria.

Crucially, they describe how all the required personnel, equipment and supplies can be fitted into a single vehicle that tours over two dozen nationally representative locations scattered across this vast country of almost a million square kilometres every year, so that any improvements or shortcomings in control efforts can be promptly identified, understood and acted upon.

Prof Govella and Prof Killeen, also a co-author of the study, have been working together on these various methodological challenges for over twenty years, now culminating in this world-first application of behavioural ecology to public health across such extensive programmatic scales.