Currently, interest is resurfacing in the potential of mosquito-based malaria control and the deployment of insecticide-treated bednets (ITN) is now a central feature of plans articulated by the United Nation's Millennium Development Project, WHO's Roll Back Malaria program, and the President's Malaria Initiative. While these programs are certain to gain from prior experience, it is important to acknowledge that the design of these efforts is often based on data dimensions that do not capture landscape variation, mosquito species distribution, or vectors'interactions with the multiple pathogens that they transmit. This leads us to an overall hypothesis that control strategies guided by overly generalized landscape and ecological assessments will not be sufficiently effective against all anthropophagic mosquito species, and will fail to reduce the burden of malaria in high-risk areas. For this Ecology of Infectious Disease (EID) project, our overall objective is to provide insight into the fine- and medium-scale factors that contribute to village-by-village risk differences for mosquito-borne parasite transmission, as modified by intercurrent anthropogenic change and other local environmental factors. Our study design will provide analysis of mosquito-based disease control among villages clustered within scales of <100 km2 in settings characterized by complex mosquito and mosquito-borne disease ecology. Concurrent, systems-based ecological modeling will evaluate how anthropogenic changes, including deployment of ITN and mass drug administration targeting specific parasite species, will influence Anopheline mosquito vector ecology, distribution of mosquitoes, and transmission of Plasmodium species (malaria) or W. bancrofti (lymphatic filariasis) in the long term.
Specific Aims of this project are: 1. Evaluate and map the abundance and distribution of mosquitoes belonging to the A. punctulatus group according to underlying landscape heterogeneity of plant, animal, and human communities in four ecologically different sites in northern PNG. 2. Examine the change in patterns of mosquito and human infection with Plasmodium species and with W. bancrofti in the context of deploying insecticide-treated bednets and in conjunction with parasite-specific mass drug administration (MDA). 3. Promote and strengthen training in infectious diseases ecology for significant public health problems in Papua New Guinea through an established Fogarty International Center Global Infectious Diseases Research Training program.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
Fogarty International Center (FIC)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01TW007872-04
Application #
7678030
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZRG1-BDA-A (52))
Program Officer
Jessup, Christine
Project Start
2006-09-15
Project End
2011-07-31
Budget Start
2009-08-01
Budget End
2010-07-31
Support Year
4
Fiscal Year
2009
Total Cost
$437,596
Indirect Cost
Name
Case Western Reserve University
Department
Internal Medicine/Medicine
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
077758407
City
Cleveland
State
OH
Country
United States
Zip Code
44106
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Barnadas, CĂ©line; Timinao, Lincoln; Javati, Sarah et al. (2015) Significant geographical differences in prevalence of mutations associated with Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax drug resistance in two regions from Papua New Guinea. Malar J 14:399
Logue, Kyle; Small, Scott T; Chan, Ernest R et al. (2015) Whole-genome sequencing reveals absence of recent gene flow and separate demographic histories for Anopheles punctulatus mosquitoes in Papua New Guinea. Mol Ecol 24:1263-74
Small, Scott T; Ramesh, Akshaya; Bun, Krufinta et al. (2013) Population genetics of the filarial worm wuchereria bancrofti in a post-treatment region of Papua New Guinea: insights into diversity and life history. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 7:e2308
Logue, Kyle; Chan, Ernest R; Phipps, Tenisha et al. (2013) Mitochondrial genome sequences reveal deep divergences among Anopheles punctulatus sibling species in Papua New Guinea. Malar J 12:64
Zimmerman, Peter A; Ferreira, Marcelo U; Howes, Rosalind E et al. (2013) Red blood cell polymorphism and susceptibility to Plasmodium vivax. Adv Parasitol 81:27-76
Mueller, Ivo; Schoepflin, Sonja; Smith, Thomas A et al. (2012) Force of infection is key to understanding the epidemiology of Plasmodium falciparum malaria in Papua New Guinean children. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 109:10030-5
Ross, Amanda; Koepfli, Cristian; Li, Xiaohong et al. (2012) Estimating the numbers of malaria infections in blood samples using high-resolution genotyping data. PLoS One 7:e42496
Gurarie, David; Karl, Stephan; Zimmerman, Peter A et al. (2012) Mathematical modeling of malaria infection with innate and adaptive immunity in individuals and agent-based communities. PLoS One 7:e34040
Ramesh, Akshaya; Small, Scott T; Kloos, Zachary A et al. (2012) The complete mitochondrial genome sequence of the filarial nematode Wuchereria bancrofti from three geographic isolates provides evidence of complex demographic history. Mol Biochem Parasitol 183:32-41

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