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Background: In 2015, a China-UK-Tanzania tripartite pilot project was implemented in southeastern Tanzania to explore a new model for reducing malaria burden and possibly scaling-out the approach into other malaria-endemic countries. The 1,7-malaria Reactive Community-based Testing and Response (1,7-mRCTR) which is a locally-tailored approach for reporting febrile malaria cases in endemic villages was developed to stop transmission and Plasmodium life-cycle. The (1,7-mRCTR) utilizes existing health facility data and locally trained community health workers to conduct community-level testing and treatment. Methods: The pilot project was implemented from September 2015 to June 2018 in Rufiji District, southern Tanzania. The study took place in four wards, two with low incidence and two with a higher incidence. One ward of each type was selected for each of the control and intervention arms. The control wards implemented the existing Ministry of Health programmes. The 1,7-mRCTR activities implemented in the intervention arm included community testing and treatment of malaria infection. Malaria case-to-suspect ratios at health facilities (HF) were aggregated by villages, weekly to identify the village with the highest ratio. Community-based mobile test stations (cMTS) were used for conducting mass testing and treatment. Baseline (pre) and endline (post) household surveys were done in the control and intervention wards to assess the change in malaria prevalence measured by the interaction term of 'time' (post vs pre) and arm in a logistic model. A secondary analysis also studied the malaria incidence reported at the HFs during the intervention. Results: Overall the 85 rounds of 1,7-mRCTR conducted in the intervention wards significantly reduced the odds of malaria infection by 66% (adjusted OR 0.34, 95% CI 0.26,0.44, p < 0001) beyond the effect of the standard programmes. Malaria prevalence in the intervention wards declined by 81% (from 26% (95% CI 23.7, 7.8), at baseline to 4.9% (95% CI 4.0, 5.9) at endline). In villages receiving the 1,7-mRCTR, the short-term case ratio decreased by over 15.7% (95% CI - 33, 6) compared to baseline. Conclusion: The 1,7-mRCTR approach significantly reduced the malaria burden in the areas of high transmission in rural southern Tanzania. This locally tailored approach could accelerate malaria control and elimination efforts. The results provide the impetus for further evaluation of the effectiveness and scaling up of this approach in other high malaria burden countries in Africa, including Tanzania. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Malaria is one of the most serious vector-borne diseases in the world. Vector control is an important measure for malaria prevention and elimination. However, this strategy is under threat as disease vectors are developing resistance to insecticides. Therefore, it is important to monitor mechanisms responsible for insecticide resistance. In this study, the presence of G119S mutation in the acetyl cholinesterase-encoding gene (ace-1) was investigated in nine Anopheles sinensis populations sampled across Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region China. Methods: PCR-RFLP (polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism) method was used to genotype each individual adult of An. sinensis. Direct sequencing of PCR products was performed to verify the accuracy of PCR-RFLP genotyping result. Population genetics analysis was conducted using Genepop programme. Results: The frequencies of susceptible homozygotes, heterozygotes and resistant homozygotes in the nine populations ranged between 0-0.296, 0.143-0.500 and 0.333-0.857, respectively. Overall, a high frequency (0.519-0.929) of mutant 119S allele was observed and the genotype frequency of the ace-1 gene of An. sinensis was at Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium in each of the nine examined populations. Conclusion: The G119S mutation has become fixed and is widespread in An. sinensis field populations in Guangxi, China. These findings are useful in helping design strategies for An. sinensis control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During May-August 2013, a malaria outbreak comprising 874 persons in Shanglin County, China, was detected among 4,052 persons returning from overseas. Ghana was the predominant destination country, and 92.3% of malarial infections occurred in gold miners. Preventive measures should be enhanced for persons in high-risk occupations traveling to malaria-endemic countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]