According to data published by Universiti Putra Malaysia this year, 13 deaths due to Malaria were reported in Malaysia in 2023. This is small compared to the more than 597,000 reported globally in the same year. Various efforts are being made to curb the disease that has been recorded since 1550 years before.
Scientists from the University of Maryland have now discovered a new technique to fight Malaria by transmitting sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) to mosquitoes. Male mosquitoes are sprayed with the Metarhizium fungus which, when it enters the body of a female mosquito during mating, causes death. Metarhizium, which occurs naturally, acts as a neurotoxin that only kills female mosquitoes, which are vectors of Malaria.
In a field trial conducted in Burkina Faso, almost 90% of female mosquitoes died within two weeks of mating with male mosquitoes sprayed with Metarhizium. This is a higher mortality rate than the only 4% that occurs naturally. Although toxic to female mosquitoes, Metarhizium does not cause any negative effects on humans.
The study paper was published in the journal Scientific Reports