Perspective Piece: Needs for Monitoring Mosquito Transmission of Malaria in a Pre-Elimination World

Summary

As global efforts to eliminate malaria intensify, accurate information on vector populations and transmission dynamics is critical for directing control efforts, developing new control tools, and predicting the effects of these interventions under various conditions. Currently, available sampling tools for mosquito population monitoring suffer from well-recognized limitations. As reported in this workshop summary, a recent gathering of medical entomologists, modelers, and malaria experts reviewed these issues and agreed that efforts are needed to improve methods to monitor key transmission parameters. Identified needs include standardized methods for sampling of both mosquito adults and larvae, improved tools for mosquito species identification, and age-grading and a better means for determining the entomological inoculation rate.