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Abstract The management of mosquito resistance to chemical insecticides and the biting behaviour of some species are motivating the search for complementary and/or alternative control methods. The use of plants is increasingly considered as a sustainable biological solution for vector control. The aim of this study was to evaluate the biological effects of the essential oil (EO) of Lippia alba harvested in Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire) against Anopheles gambiae and Aedes aegypti mosquitoes. Phytochemical compounds were identified by GC–MS. Knockdown and mortality were determined according to the WHO test tube protocol. Contact irritancy was assessed by observing the movement of mosquitoes from a treated WHO tube to a second untreated tube. Non-contact repellency was assessed using a standardised high-throughput screening system (HITSS). Blood meal inhibition was assessed using a membrane feeding assay treated with EO. The EO was identified as the citral chemotype. The EO gave 100% KD60 in both species at a concentration of 1%. Mortalities of 100% were recorded with An. gambiae and Ae. aegypti at concentrations of 1% and 5% respectively. The highest proportions of females escaping during the contact irritancy test were 100% for An. gambiae at 1% concentration and 94% for Ae. aegypti at 2.5% concentration. The 1% concentration produced the highest proportions of repelled mosquitoes in the non-contact repellency tests: 76.8% (An. gambiae) and 68.5% (Ae. aegypti). The blood meal inhibition rate at a dose of 10% was 98.4% in Ae. aegypti but only 15.5% in An. gambiae. The citral chemotype of L. alba EO has promising biological effects in both species that make it a potentially good candidate for its use in mosquito control. The results obtained in this study encourage the further evaluation of L. alba EOs from other localities and of different chemotypes, under laboratory and field conditions.

Abstract Background The use of long-lasting insecticide-treated nets (LLINs) is one of the main malaria prevention method promoted by the World Health Organization (WHO) in Côte d'Ivoire. LLIN-coverage has reached 95% since 2015 and nearly 16 million LLINs were distributed in 2017. Despite these efforts, malaria incidence at the national level remains high (120‰ in 2012 to 164‰ in 2017) although this could be partly explained by increased screening efforts. This study aimed at determining what preventative measures were used against mosquito bites, as well as LLIN maintenance practices used by the inhabitants of the city of Bouaké, capital city of the Gbêkê region with a malaria incidence of 257‰ in 2017. Methods A descriptive qualitative investigation took place in Bouaké, in four neighbourhoods that were selected through purposive sampling based on their social composition. Data were collected using an interview guide based on convenience sampling. Results The results of the study reveal that LLINs are the most reported used malaria prevention measure (66.4%). Environmental health (28.8%) came second in their declarations, smoke coils (23.5%) third and aerosol cans (18.8%) last. The percentage of respondents who answered that they had slept under an LLIN the previous night was 53%. 57.7% reported that they wash their LLINs, 12.1% that they do not wash them, and 4% that they replace dirty LLINs with new ones. The LLINs washing methods described by the respondents did not comply with the WHO recommendations and there was no mention of LLINs repairs. Conclusion Despite mass distributions of LLINs in Côte d'Ivoire, this key malaria control tool remains under-used by the population. Regarding LLIN maintenance, more than half of the population reports that they wash their nets while not complying with recommended practices or repairing them.