Malaria Center Sets Up New Lab to Study Mosquito Habits
March 21,2002
By Michelle Vachon
The Cambodia Daily
A new laboratory unit inaugurated March 11 may take Cambodia's fight against
malaria another step forward.
Called an insectary, the unit set up at the National Malaria Center will make it
possible to conduct research to better protect people against mosquitoes that
transmit malaria and dengue fever, said Sean Hewitt, malaria control specialist
with the European Commission Malaria Control Program.
"We want to study the mosquitoes specifically in the Cambodian
context," said National Malaria Center Director Duong Socheat.
Hewitt said the insectary consists of five rooms. Three rooms will be used for
breeding the insects. The rooms will be equipped with sinks and basins to study
mosquitoes during their aquatic stages, when they still are larvae and pupae,
and with cages and mosquito nets to study adult insects. A laboratory with
microscopes, a fiber-optic lighting system and other research facilities will be
set up in the other two rooms.
The insectary will serve two major purposes, Hewitt said. The first will be
training the staff in entomological field techniques such as standardized
procedures developed by the World Health Organization. The second purpose will
be to conduct applied entomological research. "We will breed three mosquito
species of the genus Anopheles that transmit malaria and one specie of the genus
Aedes that transmit dengue fever," Hewitt said.
Research will include testing the efficiency of insecticides on mosquito nets.
"Every country has its own set of conditions," Hewitt said. For
example, entomologists will want to find out whether any insecticide is left
once people have washed their nets with soap or ash as some Cambodians do.
The entomologists may check how effective certain lids work at keeping
mosquitoes out of water jars, and whether mosquitoes attack more fiercely people
without protection who are sleeping next to others using hammock nets, Hewitt
said.
Entomologists also may study how mosquitoes move in traditional huts. This will
enable them to find the most efficient way to spray huts against the insects,
Hewitt said.
The insectary was built with a contribution of approximately $40,000 provided by
the European Commission, said Roberto Garcia, European co-director of the EC
program. "The EC supports Cambodia in all aspects of its malaria program
prevention, treatment and research," Garcia said, adding that the EC
believes it is important for Cambodia to have the capability to conduct research
in order to maintain an effective malaria control program.
Duong Socheat agreed, but said Cambodia will need help from international donors
if the country is to pursue research.
Statistics for 2001 show progress in Cambodia's efforts to prevent and treat
malaria it in its early stages. A total of 115,614 cases were reported in 2001,
compared to 129,167 cases in 2000, according to Duong Socheat. He said the
number of deaths from malaria dropped to 476 in 2001 from 608 in 2000.