Higher mosquito blood meals increase malaria transmission

London, Jan 2 : Multiple bouts of blood feeding by mosquitoes reduce the incubation period for malaria parasites and increase malaria transmission potential, said a study.
Given that mosquitoes feed on blood multiple times in natural settings, the results published in the journal PLOS Pathogens suggest that malaria elimination may be substantially more challenging than suggested by previous experiments, which typically involve a single blood meal.
Malaria remains a devastating disease for tropical and subtropical regions.
In natural settings, the female Anopheles gambiae mosquito — the major malaria vector — feeds on blood multiple times in her lifespan.
Such complex behaviour is regularly overlooked when mosquitoes are experimentally infected with malaria parasites, limiting our ability to accurately describe potential effects on transmission.
In the new study, the researchers examined how additional blood feeding affects the development and transmission potential of Plasmodium falciparum malaria parasites in An. gambiae females.