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Malaria programmes successful in KZN
Kamini Padayachee, The Mercury
2008-07-11

KwaZulu-Natal seems to be winning the battle against malaria in the province, with only about 1 000 cases reported in the province in the past malarial season.

This is according to Prof Maureen Coetzee, an Entomologist from the University of the Witwatersrand, who was speaking at the 32nd International Congress of Entomology in Durban yesterday. The situation in the province and the country is favourable because of the changes we have made to our malaria control programmes, she said. We are using two insecticides to control the mosquitoes and have changed the drug for treatment of the parasite. We have also introduced malaria control programmes in Mozambique. Less rainfall has also helped. Coetzee said the congress would discuss insecticide resistance and the use of fungi to kill mosquitoes. Research at Wits University showed that mosquitoes exposed to fungi died within 12 to 14 days after exposure. Coetzee said the fungi were placed in clay pots and the mosquitoes were then released into them. The mosquito rests on the fungi spores and it is absorbed. The spores multiply and feed off the mosquito, which then dies, she said.

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