Rearing Mosquitoes Boosts Niger’s National Capacity

In 2021, PMI VectorLink Niger supported the rehabilitation of the insectary at the Centre de Recherche Medical et Sanitaire (CERMES), equipping it with brand new equipment and supplies, along with temperature and humidity controls required to adhere to the international standards for mosquito rearing for research. The project also supported the training of two technicians, recruited and hired by CERMES, in insectary management and rearing susceptible Anopheles gambiae Kisumu with eggs provided by insectaries in Côte d’Ivoire and the UK. This week’s Fist Bump goes to the insectary technicians, Maimouna Mamoudou Ballo and Rabi Abdou Bacharou, two women who have done an outstanding job with the management and maintenance of the mosquito colonies. 

During a recent STTA in Niger, Regional Entomology Specialist Joseph Chabi visited the insectary and was extremely impressed by the immaculate condition of the facility. The technicians have applied all the knowledge from their training and receive continuous support from Joseph and Hadiza (VectorLink Niger COP) to rear the susceptible mosquitoes, keeping the insectary clean and within an appropriate temperature and humidity range.  

Thanks to their hard work, CERMES can use their own in-house colony of susceptible mosquitoes to conduct the WHO cone bioassays and tunnel tests for the project’s net durability study and can check the quality of the insecticide-treated papers used to test insecticide resistance in approximately 15 sentinel sites across the country. In previous years, CERMES had to ship their net samples to neighboring countries to test bioefficacy, so Maimouna and Rabi’s success in producing sufficient susceptible mosquitoes represents a major vector control victory in Niger. 

Kudos to these valiant and dedicated women who have made the CERMES insectary an ideal setting for research. They have increased the insectary’s capability to carry out quality control of all vector control tools, which strengthens Niger’s national capacity to independently generate key data to inform vector control decision-making.