Americas

Here, we use a comprehensive data assembly of HbS allele frequencies to generate the first evidence-based map of the worldwide distribution of the gene in a Bayesian geostatistical framework.

Spatial data for these factors were assembled for all malaria-endemic countries and combined to provide an objective, relative ranking of countries by technical, operational, and combined elimination feasibility.

The results for the nine DVS of the Americas are described in detail here. Nearly 6000 occurrence records were gathered from 25 countries in the region and were complemented by a synthesis of published expert opinion range maps, refined further by a technical advisory group of medical entomologists.

Malaria is currently highly prevalent and restricted to the north of Brazil, and its dynamics are severely affected by human environmental changes, such as the large dam construction recently approved by the Brazilian Government in Rondônia. We studied the mosquito fauna and behavior before hydroelectric construction. Mosquitoes were captured by human landing catches on the riversides of the Madeira River in Porto Velho, Rondônia.