Human Odours

Overall Principal Investigator: Drs. Conor McMeniman , Stephanie Turner,Drs. Monicah Mburu and Edgar Simulundu

The project is led by Drs. Conor McMeniman and Stephanie Turner at Johns Hopkins and Drs. Monicah Mburu and Edgar Simulundu at MRT. The team has been developing a new protocol for a study that aims at developing super-attractive lures for enhancing malaria vector control. The team received all the approvals from the Institutional Review Boards at MRT and JHU as well as Zambia Environmental Management Authority (ZEMA) and National Health Research Authority (NHRA). Additionally, the team conducted a semi-field experiment to evaluate the entry behaviour of mosquitoes (An. gambiaes.s-Kisumu colony at MRT) into resting boxes that had been baited with different attractants. The attractant that appeared to attract a large number of mosquitoes was the one baited with a combination of carbon dioxide, heat and human odour. Further experiments are underway in pursuit of developing a super-attractive lure for malaria vector control.