We know a lot about mosquito preferences up close, but how do mosquitoes find us from up to a hundred meters away? From repellants to app-based mosquito monitoring and a new malaria vaccine, researchers are making important breakthroughs in the fight against the biting insects.

The spread of Anopheles stephensi (An. Stephensi) mosquitoes poses a significant threat to malaria elimination in Africa, according to a 2019 vector alert from the World Health Organization (WHO). This malaria vector, formerly o­nly seen in South Asia and parts of the Arabian Peninsula, was detected for the first time in Africa in 2012, in the city of Djibouti. Over the last decade, An.stephensi has been expanding, with cases reported in five different countries o­n the African continent. To respond to this challenge, the WHO recently announced a new initiative aimed at halting the spread of this invasive mosquito species in the region. 

Several new innovations aim to close gaps in anti-malaria efforts by targeting the mosquitoes that spread the disease.

Mosquito Known to Transmit Malaria Has Been Detected in Ethiopia for the First Time; Fighting human disease with birth control ... for mosquitoes; Imaging and quantitative analysis of insecticide in mosquito net fibers using Time-of-Flight Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (ToF-SIMS)

From deadly droughts and destroyed crops to shrinking water sources, communities across sub-Saharan Africa are struggling to withstand the o­nslaught of global record-breaking temperatures. But the dangers do not end there. Rising heat poses another threat - o­ne that is far less known and studied but could spark disease epidemics across the continent, scientists say.

• Mutant mosquitoes make insecticide-resistance monitoring key to controlling Zika (07/07/2017)
• Why malaria mosquitoes like people with malaria (02/23/2017)
• New strategy to fight mosquitoes in a more efficient and sustainable way (09/01/2016)
• Winning the war against malaria by beating its vector (05/25/2016)
• Top academics: Without proactive approach to insecticide resistance, gains made in malaria prevention could be lost (02/29/2016)