Ecology: A Prerequisite for Malaria Elimination and Eradication: e1000303

Summary Points * Existing front-line vector control measures, such as insecticide-treated nets and residual sprays, cannot break the transmission cycle of Plasmodium falciparum in the most intensely endemic parts of Africa and the Pacific * The goal of malaria eradication will require urgent strategic investment into understanding the ecology and evolution of the mosquito vectors that transmit malaria * Priority areas will include understanding aspects of the mosquito life cycle beyond the blood feeding processes which directly mediate malaria transmission * Global commitment to malaria eradication necessitates a corresponding long-term commitment to vector ecology Introduction The Global Malaria Eradication Program, launched in the middle of the last century, over-promised and under-delivered [1]. The capacity of vectors to develop resistance so rapidly will undoubtedly pose a major obstacle to malaria control based exclusively on insecticides.\n Key Areas for Specific Strategic Investment in Ecological Research to Enable Malaria Eradication (1) Development of new field measurement tools for surveying diverse primary and secondary vector populations and the environmental conditions and resources they rely upon through all phases of their life cycles (2) Establishment of comprehensive, long-term data collection systems spanning individual to landscape scales from diverse and representative field sites (3) Creation and maintenance of public data repositories with standardized, simplified data storage formats for mosquito ecology data combined with policies and incentive systems that facilitate data sharing and synergy between laboratory- and field-based investigators (4) Application of cutting-edge mathematical modelling approaches to understand vector populations dynamics, pathogen transmission, and optimal intervention strategies (5) Development and application of enclosed, pathogen-free, semi-field mesocosms in which vector populations can be experimentally manipulated [38] 6) Exploitation of the perturbations of vector populations and parasite transmission processes resulting from ongoing scale-up of existing intervention measures so that the population dynamics, behavioural specialization, and competitive relationships between mosquito species can be lucidly understood (7) Engagement and recruitment of leading theoretical and empirical ecologists into malaria vector research, control, and capacity strengthening Direct research investment will be requir