Pest Species
Anopheles stephensi
Human malaria mosquito
Djibouti
Djibouti Region
Control Measure
Synopsis
- 2012 Anopheles stephensi, a non-native urban malaria vector found primarily in India, was found in Djibouti.
- 2023 Anopheles stephensi has continued to invade Africa and has been confirmed or suspected in 11 countries
- 2022 Oxitec (a company with GM mosquito control technology), Association Mutualis, and the Djibouti National Malaria Control Programme (PNLP) announced the launch of a partnership, formed in response to a request from the Government of Djibouti, to explore how Oxitec’s Friendly™ solutions can deliver impact in communities threatened by vector-borne diseases.
- 2024 Oxitec’s Friendly™ Anopheles stephensi, has now been released in Djibouti City twice. The first release was in May 2024 and marked the first genetically engineered mosquitoes released in Eastern Africa. The second release was in October 2024, dubbed the full season release to implement a full pilot scale control of mosquito in the city.
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Why RIDL is not SIT
Tags: Genetically modified mosquitoes, Oxitec, Sterile insect technique (SIT)W. C. Black, L. Alphey and A. A. James, Trends in Parasitology, 27:362-370. 2011.
History teaches that sterile insect technique (SIT) is a feasible strategy for mosquito population suppression. Female killing (FK) technologies developed later theoretically had greater potential than SIT, but depended upon chromosomal translocations. Unfortunately these were ...
