Scientists warn that the introduction of an insect that is resistant to pesticides could change the landscape of Malaria in Africa.
The mosquito was the cause of an outbreak in Dire Dawa during a dry season. It is the strongest evidence to date that it could cause a surge in the number of malaria cases.
The scientists say that the eastern city of 500,000 people is not usually a Malaria hot spot. Between January and May this year, there were about 2,400 cases.
According to research presented this week at the annual meeting of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, most of the mosquitoes collected in the area were Anopheles stephensi, a mosquito that is usually found in India and Iran.
The Anopheles gambiae mosquito, which thrives in the rainy months, is still the main cause of Malaria in Africa, with over 200 million cases annually.
Anopheles stephensi has alarmed health officials with its ability to resist some standard pesticides and survive all year round in pools that have collected in human made water storage containers. Natural water sources are where it is found.
Fitsum G Tadesse said that they need to be looking for the mosquito in places where people were not expecting to find it.
The mosquito that causes Malaria in Africa produced a 10-fold spike in infections in just three weeks in an urban area during a dry season.
In 2012 the Anopheles stephensi mosquito was found in Africa. The tiny coastal country had just 27 presumed or confirmed cases of Malaria in the year that ended. The number of cases had exceeded 73,000 by 2020.
Nigeria is one of the countries where Anopheles stephensi has been found. The World Health Organization launched a new initiative to stop the spread of insects.
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Sarah Zohdy from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that the mosquito's ability to persist in the dry season and in urban environments has the potential to change the landscape of Malaria in Africa.
It could cause Malaria to spread from a predominantly rural disease to a rural and urban challenge that affects Africa's rapidly growing and densely populated cities.
According to a study, 126 million people in African cities could be at risk of Malaria in 2020 because of the Anopheles stephensi mosquito. If the mosquitoes of Dire Dawa were not in Dire Dawa, that could be a problem.
Almost all of the people who died of Malaria in 2020 were children under the age of five.
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