The In2Care® EaveTubes improved protection against malaria vectors in a small-scale field study at Kagera Sugar Ltd,...

A small-scale In2Care® EaveTubes (ET) new malaria vector control product efficacy study was carried out at Kagera Sugar Ltd, Missenyi, Tanzania between October 2019 and July 2020. Its main aim was to gather proof of impact against wild populations of anopheline mosquitoes (malaria vectors) in Tanzanian rural field settings.

In total, 350 Eave Tubes were installed in 100 iron sheet barrack rooms and 35 mud houses in a selected camp where workers of Kagera Sugar Ltd resided. Two similar camps did not receive any malaria interventions and served as control sites to monitor baseline mosquito densities. During the 9-month intervention period, the quality and durability of the insecticide- treated ET were tested. Entomological sampling was conducted to assess indoor mosquito densities pre- and post ET installation. Furthermore, malaria disease cases were monitored through passive case detection at the local health facility to indicate potential epidemiological impacts.

Entomological data showed that ET significantly reduced indoor anopheline vector densities by 58% overall and 75% during the peak mosquito season. Quality control results showed no degradation of insecticide content or mosquitocidal efficacy of ET netting samples used for 6 months under field conditions. Malaria incidence results showed a decline in disease cases in the ET-treated camp and the control camps, compared to the baseline. The highest malaria case incidence reduction was in the ET intervention camp (25.6%).

These findings indicate a high efficacy and durability of ET against wild malaria mosquitoes. Eave Tubes can be a new tool in the malaria control toolbox, complementing malaria vector control tools available in areas where insecticide resistance has compromised existing vector control tools.