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In the final stages of malaria elimination, interventions to reduce malaria transmission are often centered around a confirmed case of malaria, as cases tend to cluster together at very low levels of transmission. The WHO commissioned a systematic review of the literature and synthesis of evidence for reactive indoor residual spraying (IRS) to develop official recommendations for countries. Several electronic databases were searched in November 2020. A total of 455 records were identified and screened; 20 full-text articles were assessed for eligibility. Two cluster-randomized trials met the inclusion criteria for epidemiological outcomes. Risk of bias was assessed using standard criteria. Because one study was a superiority trial in which the comparator included reactive case detection or mass drug administration and the other was a noninferiority trial in which the comparator was proactive, focal IRS, results could not be pooled. In the superiority trial, reactive IRS reduced malaria prevalence by 68% (risk ratio [RR]: 0.32; 95% CI: 0.13-0.80; certainty of evidence: HIGH) compared with no reactive IRS. No difference was observed for clinical malaria (RR: 0.65; 95% CI: 0.38-1.11; certainty of evidence: MODERATE). In the noninferiority study, the mean difference in incidence between reactive IRS and proactive IRS was 0.10 additional case per 1,000 person-years, which was within the prespecified noninferiority bound (95% CI: -0.38 to 0.58; certainty of evidence: MODERATE). The evidence indicates that reactive IRS may be a cost-effective tool for the prevention of malaria in elimination settings. As only two cluster-randomized controlled trials from sub-Saharan Africa were found, additional high-quality studies should be encouraged.

Background: Efforts to improve the impact of long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs) should be informed by understanding of the causes of decay in effect. Holes in LLINs have been estimated to account for 7-11% of loss in effect on vectorial capacity for Plasmodium falciparum malaria in an analysis of repeated cross-sectional surveys of LLINs in Kenya. This does not account for the effect of holes as a cause of net attrition or non-use, which cannot be measured using only cross-sectional data. There is a need for estimates of how much these indirect effects of physical damage on use and attrition contribute to decay in effectiveness of LLINs., Methods: Use, physical integrity, and survival were assessed in a cohort of 4514 LLINs followed for up to 4 years in Kenya. Flow diagrams were used to illustrate how the status of nets, in terms of categories of use, physical integrity, and attrition, changed between surveys carried out at 6-month intervals. A compartment model defined in terms of ordinary differential equations (ODEs) was used to estimate the transition rates between the categories. Effects of physical damage to LLINs on use and attrition were quantified by simulating counterfactuals in which there was no damage., Results: Allowing for the direct effect of holes, the effect on use, and the effect on attrition, 18% of the impact on vectorial capacity was estimated to be lost because of damage. The estimated median lifetime of the LLINs was 2.9 years, but this was extended to 5.7 years in the counterfactual without physical damage. Nets that were in use were more likely to be in a damaged state than unused nets but use made little direct difference to LLIN lifetimes. Damage was reported as the reason for attrition for almost half of attrited nets, but the model estimated that almost all attrited nets had suffered some damage before attrition., Conclusions: Full quantification of the effects of damage will require measurement of the supply of new nets and of household stocks of unused nets, and also of their impacts on both net use and retention. The timing of mass distribution campaigns is less important than ensuring sufficient supply. In the Kenyan setting, nets acquired damage rapidly once use began and the damage led to rapid attrition. Increasing the robustness of nets could substantially increase their lifetime and impact but the impact of LLIN programmes on malaria transmission is ultimately limited by levels of use. Longitudinal analyses of net integrity data from different settings are needed to determine the importance of physical damage to nets as a driver of attrition and non-use, and the importance of frequent use as a cause of physical damage in different contexts., (© 2021. The Author(s).)

Introduction: Longitudinal monitoring of outdoor-biting malaria vector populations is becoming increasingly important in understanding the dynamics of residual malaria transmission. However, the human landing catch (HLC), the gold standard for measuring human biting rates indoors and outdoors, is costly and raises ethical concerns related to increased risk of infectious bites among collectors. Consequently, routine data on outdoor-feeding mosquito populations are usually limited because of the lack of a scalable tool with similar sensitivity to outdoor HLC., Methodology: The Anopheles trapping sensitivity of four baited proxy outdoor trapping methods-Furvela tent trap (FTT), host decoy trap (HDT), mosquito electrocuting traps (MET) and outdoor CDC light traps (OLT)-was assessed relative to HLC in a 5 × 5 replicated Latin square conducted over 25 nights in two villages of western Kenya. Indoor CDC light trap (ILT) was run in one house in each of the compounds with outdoor traps, while additional non-Latin square indoor and outdoor HLC collections were performed in one of the study villages., Results: The MET, FTT, HDT and OLT sampled approximately 4.67, 7.58, 5.69 and 1.98 times more An. arabiensis compared to HLC, respectively, in Kakola Ombaka. Only FTT was more sensitive relative to HLC in sampling An. funestus in Kakola Ombaka (RR = 5.59, 95% CI 2.49-12.55, P < 0.001) and Masogo (RR = 4.38, 95% CI 1.62-11.80, P = 0.004) and in sampling An. arabiensis in Masogo (RR = 5.37, 95% CI 2.17-13.24, P < 0.001). OLT sampled significantly higher numbers of An. coustani in Kakola Ombaka (RR = 3.03, 95% CI 1.65-5.56, P < 0.001) and Masogo (RR = 2.88, 95% CI 1.15-7.22, P = 0.02) compared to HLC. OLT, HLC and MET sampled mostly An. coustani, FTT had similar proportions of An. funestus and An. arabiensis, while HDT sampled predominantly An. arabiensis in both villages. FTT showed close correlation with ILT in vector abundance for all three species at both collection sites., Conclusion: FTT and OLT are simple, easily scalable traps and are potential replacements for HLC in outdoor sampling of Anopheles mosquitoes. However, the FTT closely mirrored indoor CDC light trap in mosquito indices and therefore may be more of an indoor mimic than a true outdoor collection tool. HDT and MET show potential for sampling outdoor host-seeking mosquitoes. However, the traps as currently designed may not be feasible for large-scale, longitudinal entomological monitoring. Therefore, the baited outdoor CDC light trap may be the most appropriate tool currently available for assessment of outdoor-biting and malaria transmission risk.

Background: Larval source management is recommended as a supplementary vector control measure for the prevention of malaria. Among the concerns related to larviciding is the feasibility of implementation in tropical areas with large numbers of habitats and the need for frequent application. Formulated products of spinosad that are designed to be effective for several weeks may mitigate some of these concerns., Methods: In a semi-field study, three formulations of spinosad (emulsifiable concentrate, extended release granules and tablet formulations) were tested in naturalistic habitats in comparison to an untreated control. Cohorts of third instar Anopheles gambiae (Diptera: Culicidae) were introduced into the habitats in screened cages every week up to four weeks after application and monitored for survivorship over three days. A small-scale field trial was then conducted in two villages. Two of the spinosad formulations were applied in one village over the course of 18 months. Immature mosquito populations were monitored with standard dippers in sentinel sites and adult populations were monitored by pyrethrum spray catches., Results: In the semi-field study, the efficacy of the emulsifiable concentrate of spinosad waned 1 week after treatment. Mortality in habitats treated with the extended release granular formulation of spinosad was initially high but declined gradually over 4 weeks while mortality in habitats treated with the dispersable tablet formulation was low immediately after treatment but rose to 100% through four weeks. In the field study, immature and adult Anopheles mosquito populations were significantly lower in the intervention village compared to the control village during the larviciding period. Numbers of collected mosquitoes were lower in the intervention village compared to the control village during the post-intervention period but the difference was not statistically significant., Conclusions: The extended release granular formulation and the dispersible tablet formulations of spinosad are effective against larval Anopheles mosquitoes for up to four weeks and may be an effective tool as part of larval source management programmes for reducing adult mosquito density and malaria transmission.

Background: Long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs) are the primary malaria prevention and control intervention in many parts of sub-Saharan Africa. While LLINs are expected to last at least 3 years under normal use conditions, they can lose effectiveness because they fall out of use, are discarded, repurposed, physically damaged, or lose insecticidal activity. The contributions of these different interrelated factors to durability of nets and their protection against malaria have been unclear., Methods: Starting in 2009, LLIN durability studies were conducted in seven countries in Africa over 5 years. WHO-recommended measures of attrition, LLIN use, insecticidal activity, and physical integrity were recorded for eight different net brands. These data were combined with analyses of experimental hut data on feeding inhibition and killing effects of LLINs on both susceptible and pyrethroid resistant malaria vectors to estimate the protection against malaria transmission-in terms of vectorial capacity (VC)-provided by each net cohort over time. Impact on VC was then compared in hypothetical scenarios where one durability outcome measure was set at the best possible level while keeping the others at the observed levels., Results: There was more variability in decay of protection over time by country than by net brand for three measures of durability (ratios of variance components 4.6, 4.4, and 1.8 times for LLIN survival, use, and integrity, respectively). In some countries, LLIN attrition was slow, but use declined rapidly. Non-use of LLINs generally had more effect on LLIN impact on VC than did attrition, hole formation, or insecticide loss., Conclusions: There is much more variation in LLIN durability among countries than among net brands. Low levels of use may have a larger impact on effectiveness than does variation in attrition or LLIN degradation. The estimated entomological effects of chemical decay are relatively small, with physical decay probably more important as a driver of attrition and non-use than as a direct cause of loss of effect. Efforts to maximize LLIN impact in operational settings should focus on increasing LLIN usage, including through improvements in LLIN physical integrity. Further research is needed to understand household decisions related to LLIN use, including the influence of net durability and the presence of other nets in the household.

Background: Malaria vector control is dependent on chemical insecticides applied to walls by indoor residual spraying or on long-lasting insecticidal nets. The emergence and spread of insecticide resistance in major malaria vectors may compromise malaria control and elimination efforts. The aim of this study was to estimate a diagnostic dose for chlorfenapyr (class: pyrrole) and clothianidin (class: neonicotinoid) and assess the baseline susceptibility of three major Anopheles malaria vectors of western Kenya to these two insecticides., Methods: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) bottle assay was used to determine the diagnostic doses of chlorfenapyr and clothianidin insecticides against the susceptible Kisumu strain of Anopheles gambiae. Probit analysis was used to determine the lethal doses at which 50% (LD50) and 99% (LD99) of the susceptible mosquitoes would be killed 24, 48 and 72 h following exposure for 1 h. Insecticidal efficacy of chlorfenapyr, clothianidin and the pyrethroid deltamethrin was then evaluated against field collected female Anopheles mosquitoes sampled from Nyando, Bumula and Ndhiwa sub-Counties in western Kenya. Members of Anopheles funestus and An. gambiae complexes were identified using polymerase chain reaction (PCR)., Results: The determined diagnostic doses of chlorfenapyr and clothianidin insecticides were 50 µg/bottle and 150 µg/bottle, respectively, for An. gambiae, Kisumu strain. When exposed to the diagnostic dose of each insecticide, Anopheles malaria vector populations in western Kenya were susceptible to both insecticides with 100% mortality observed after 72 h. Mortality of mosquitoes exposed to deltamethrin increased over time but did not reach 100%. Mortality of Anopheles arabiensis from Nyando exposed to deltamethrin was 83% at 24 h, 88% at 48 h and 94.5% at 72 h while An. funestus from Ndhiwa was 89% at 24 h, 91.5% at 48 h and 94.5% at 72 h., Conclusion: Mosquitoes of western Kenya, despite being resistant to pyrethroids, are susceptible to chlorfenapyr and clothianidin. Field evaluations of the formulated product are needed.

Background: Measurement of densities of host-seeking malaria vectors is important for estimating levels of disease transmission, for appropriately allocating interventions, and for quantifying their impact. The gold standard for estimating mosquito-human contact rates is the human landing catch (HLC), where human volunteers catch mosquitoes that land on their exposed body parts. This approach necessitates exposure to potentially infectious mosquitoes, and is very labour intensive. There are several safer and less labour-intensive methods, with Centers for Disease Control light traps (LT) placed indoors near occupied bed nets being the most widely used., Methods: This paper presents analyses of 13 studies with paired mosquito collections of LT and HLC to evaluate these methods for their consistency in sampling indoor-feeding mosquitoes belonging to the two major taxa of malaria vectors across Africa, the Anopheles gambiae sensu lato complex and the Anopheles funestus s.l. group. Both overall and study-specific sampling efficiencies of LT compared with HLC were computed, and regression methods that allow for the substantial variations in mosquito counts made by either method were used to test whether the sampling efficacy varies with mosquito density., Results: Generally, LT were able to collect similar numbers of mosquitoes to the HLC indoors, although the relative sampling efficacy, measured by the ratio of LT:HLC varied considerably between studies. The overall best estimate for An. gambiae s.l. was 1.06 (95% credible interval: 0.68-1.64) and for An. funestus s.l. was 1.37 (0.70-2.68). Local calibration exercises are not reproducible, since only in a few studies did LT sample proportionally to HLC, and there was no geographical pattern or consistent trend with average density in the tendency for LT to either under- or over-sample., Conclusions: LT are a crude tool at best, but are relatively easy to deploy on a large scale. Spatial and temporal variation in mosquito densities and human malaria transmission exposure span several orders of magnitude, compared to which the inconsistencies of LT are relatively small. LT, therefore, remain an invaluable and safe alternative to HLC for measuring indoor malaria transmission exposure in Africa.

A malaria cohort study was conducted among young children in Machinga District, Malawi, following distribution of insecticide-treated bednets (ITNs) in May 2012. To assess ITN use, two independently sampled subsets of children (211 during survey 1 [December 2012-January 2013] and 325 during survey 2 [September-October 2013]) were randomly selected to compare the proportions of positive and negative agreement between caregiver verbal reports at monthly interviews with visual observation of the ITN at home visits. Caregiver-reported ITN use was consistently high during both surveys (98.1% and 96.0%, respectively; P = 0.17). Home visit-based ITN use fell significantly (P < 0.001) from survey 1 (98.6%) to survey 2 (88.6%). The proportions of positive agreement between caregiver report and home visit in the first and second surveys were 98.8% (95% confidence interval [CI] 97.6-99.8%) and 93.3% (95% CI 91.2-95.3%), respectively. The proportions of negative agreement in the first and second surveys were 28.6% (95% CI 0-75.0%) and 20.0% (95% CI 0.1-35.0%), respectively. ITN use by children was high in Machinga District, and caregiver reports and home visits with visual confirmation of the net demonstrated a high level of agreement for use of ITNs, but a low level of agreement when ITNs were not used., (© The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.)

Background: Eliminating malaria requires vector control interventions that dramatically reduce adult mosquito population densities and survival rates. Indoor applications of insecticidal nets and sprays are effective against an important minority of mosquito species that rely heavily upon human blood and habitations for survival. However, complementary approaches are needed to tackle a broader diversity of less human-specialized vectors by killing them at other resource targets., Methods: Impacts of strategies that target insecticides to humans or animals can be rationalized in terms of biological coverage of blood resources, quantified as proportional coverage of all blood resources mosquito vectors utilize. Here, this concept is adapted to enable impact prediction for diverse vector control strategies based on measurements of utilization rates for any definable, targetable resource subset, even if that overall resource is not quantifiable., Results: The usefulness of this approach is illustrated by deriving utilization rate estimates for various blood, resting site, and sugar resource subsets from existing entomological survey data. Reported impacts of insecticidal nets upon human-feeding vectors, and insecticide-treated livestock upon animal-feeding vectors, are approximately consistent with model predictions based on measured utilization rates for those human and animal blood resource subsets. Utilization rates for artificial sugar baits compare well with blood resources, and are consistent with observed impact when insecticide is added. While existing data was used to indirectly measure utilization rates for a variety of resting site subsets, by comparison with measured rates of blood resource utilization in the same settings, current techniques for capturing resting mosquitoes underestimate this quantity, and reliance upon complex models with numerous input parameters may limit the applicability of this approach., Conclusions: While blood and sugar consumption can be readily quantified using existing methods for detecting natural markers or artificial tracers, improved techniques for labelling mosquitoes, or other arthropod pathogen vectors, will be required to assess vector control measures which target them when they utilize non-nutritional resources such as resting, oviposition, and mating sites.

Eliminating malaria from highly endemic settings will require unprecedented levels of vector control. To suppress mosquito populations, vector control products targeting their blood hosts must attain high biological coverage of all available sources, rather than merely high demographic coverage of a targeted resource subset, such as humans while asleep indoors. Beyond defining biological coverage in a measurable way, the proportion of blood meals obtained from humans and the proportion of bites upon unprotected humans occurring indoors also suggest optimal target product profiles for delivering insecticides to humans or livestock. For vectors that feed only occasionally upon humans, preferred animal hosts may be optimal targets for mosquito-toxic insecticides, and vapour-phase insecticides optimized to maximize repellency, rather than toxicity, may be ideal for directly protecting people against indoor and outdoor exposure. However, for vectors that primarily feed upon people, repellent vapour-phase insecticides may be inferior to toxic ones and may undermine the impact of contact insecticides applied to human sleeping spaces, houses or clothing if combined in the same time and place. These concepts are also applicable to other mosquito-borne anthroponoses so that diverse target species could be simultaneously controlled with integrated vector management programmes. Measurements of these two crucial mosquito behavioural parameters should now be integrated into programmatically funded, longitudinal, national-scale entomological monitoring systems to inform selection of available technologies and investment in developing new ones.

Background: Long-lasting insecticide-treated mosquito nets (LLINs) are a primary malaria prevention strategy in sub-Saharan Africa. However, emergence of insecticide resistance threatens the effectiveness of LLINs., Methods: Cross-sectional surveys of LLINs were conducted in houses of seven and four villages in Gem and Bungoma Districts in western Kenya, respectively. Condition (number and area of holes in the nets), number and species of mosquitoes resting inside them, and insecticidal activity of nets were quantified. Mosquitoes collected inside nets were allowed to lay eggs and progeny tested for susceptibility to deltamethrin and permethrin, pyrethoids commonly deployed in LLINs in western Kenya., Results: In Gem, 83.3% of nets were less than three years old and 32.4% had at least one hole of any size; while in Bungoma, 92% were less than three years old and 48% had at least one hole. No anopheline and five Culex spp. mosquitoes were found resting inside nets in Gem regardless of the number and size of holes, while 552 Anopheles gambiae s.l., five Anopheles funestus s.l. and 137 Culex spp. were in nets in Bungoma. The number of mosquitoes resting inside nets increased with hole areas >50 cm in Bungoma. In WHO resistance assays, f1 offspring of samples collected in nets in Bungoma were 94 and 65% resistant to deltamethrin and permethrin, respectively. Nets from Bungoma retained strong activity against a susceptible laboratory strain, but not against f1 offspring of field-collected An. gambiae s.s. All An. gambiae s.s. samples collected in nets were homozygous for the kdr genotype L1014S., Conclusions: In areas with pyrethroid resistant vectors, LLINs with modest hole areas permit mosquito entry and feeding, providing little protection against the vectors. LLIN formulations develop large holes within three years of use, diminishing their presupposed lifetime effectiveness.

Malaria vectors which predominantly feed indoors upon humans have been locally eliminated from several settings with insecticide treated nets (ITNs), indoor residual spraying or larval source management. Recent dramatic declines of An. gambiae in east Africa with imperfect ITN coverage suggest mosquito populations can rapidly collapse when forced below realistically achievable, non-zero thresholds of density and supporting resource availability. Here we explain why insecticide-based mosquito elimination strategies are feasible, desirable and can be extended to a wider variety of species by expanding the vector control arsenal to cover a broader spectrum of the resources they need to survive. The greatest advantage of eliminating mosquitoes, rather than merely controlling them, is that this precludes local selection for behavioural or physiological resistance traits. The greatest challenges are therefore to achieve high biological coverage of targeted resources rapidly enough to prevent local emergence of resistance and to then continually exclude, monitor for and respond to re-invasion from external populations.

Background: High coverage of insecticide-treated bed nets in Asembo and low coverage in Seme, two adjacent communities in western Nyanza Province, Kenya; followed by expanded coverage of bed nets in Seme, as the Kenya national malaria programme rolled out; provided a natural experiment for quantification of changes in relative abundance of two primary malaria vectors in this holoendemic region. Both belong to the Anopheles gambiae sensu lato (s.l.) species complex, namely A. gambiae sensu stricto (s.s.) and Anopheles arabiensis. Historically, the former species was proportionately dominant in indoor resting collections of females., Methods: Data of the relative abundance of adult A. gambiae s.s. and A. arabiensis sampled from inside houses were obtained from the literature from 1970 to 2002 for sites west of Kisumu, Kenya, to the region of Asembo ca. 50 km from the city. A sampling transect was established from Asembo (where bed net use was high due to presence of a managed bed net distribution programme) eastward to Seme, where no bed net programme was in place. Adults of A. gambiae s.l. were sampled from inside houses along the transect from 2003 to 2009, as were larvae from nearby aquatic habitats, providing data over a nearly 40 year period of the relative abundance of the two species. Relative proportions of A. gambiae s.s. and A. arabiensis were determined for each stage by identifying species by the polymerase chain reaction method. Household bed net ownership was measured with surveys during mosquito collections. Data of blood host choice, parity rate, and infection rate for Plasmodium falciparum in A. gambiae s.s. and A. arabiensis were obtained for a sample from Asembo and Seme from 2005., Results: Anopheles gambiae s.s. adult females from indoor collections predominated from 1970 to 1998 (ca. 85%). Beginning in 1999, A. gambiae s.s decreased proportionately relative to A. arabiensis, then precipitously declined to rarity coincident with increased bed net ownership as national bed net distribution programmes commenced in 2004 and 2006. By 2009, A. gambiae s.s. comprised proportionately ca. 1% of indoor collections and A. arabiensis 99%. In Seme compared to Asembo in 2003, proportionately more larvae were A. gambiae s.s., larval density was higher, and more larval habitats were occupied. As bed net use rose in Seme, the proportion of A. gambiae larvae declined as well. These trends continued to 2009. Parity and malaria infection rates were lower in both species in Asembo (high bed net use) compared to Seme (low bed net use), but host choice did not vary within species in both communities (predominantly cattle for A. arabiensis, humans for A. gambiae s.s.)., Conclusions: A marked decline of the A. gambiae s.s. population occurred as household ownership of bed nets rose in a region of western Kenya over a 10 year period. The increased bed net coverage likely caused a mass effect on the composition of the A. gambiae s.l. species complex, resulting in the observed proportionate increase in A. arabiensis compared to its closely related sibling species, A. gambiae s.s. These observations are important in evaluating the process of regional malaria elimination, which requires sustained vector control as a primary intervention.

We present results from a study conducted in western Kenya where all-cause child mortality was assessed among a population with high levels of sustained insecticide-treated bed net (ITN) use for up to six years. Although ITNs were associated with significant reductions in all-cause mortality among infants 1-11 months old, there was no difference in the rate of all-cause mortality among children 12-59 months old with ITNs for 2-4 years, compared historically with children from villages without ITNs, after controlling for seasonality and underlying child mortality across calendar years (adjusted hazard ratio [AHR] = 0.91, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.77-1.07). There was no increase in the proportion of child deaths at older ages (12-59 months old) of all child deaths within villages with ITNs for 5-6 years (48.1%) compared historically with villages without ITNs (47.9%), after controlling for seasonality (AHR = 1.03, P = 0.834). We find no evidence that sustained ITN use increased the risk of mortality in older children in this area of intense perennial malaria transmission.

Attractive targeted sugar baits (ATSBs) are a potential vector control tool that exploits the sugar-feeding behaviour of mosquitoes. We evaluated the sugar-feeding behaviour of Anopheles mosquitoes as part of baseline studies for cluster randomised controlled trials of ATSBs. Mosquitoes were collected indoors and outdoors from two villages in western Kenya using prokopack aspirations, malaise tent traps and ultraviolet (UV) light traps. Individual mosquitoes were subjected to the cold anthrone test to assess the presence of sugar. Overall, 15.7% of collected mosquitoes had fed on natural sugar sources. By species and sex, the proportion sugar-fed was 41.3% and 27.7% in male and female Anopheles funestus, 27.2% and 12.8% in male and female An. arabiensis, and 9.7% and 8.3% in male and female An. coustani, respectively. Sugar-feeding was higher in unfed than blood-fed mosquitoes and higher in male than gravid mosquitoes. Anopheles mosquitoes obtained sugar meals from natural sources during all physiological stages, whether they rest indoors or outdoors. These findings offer a potential avenue to exploit for the control of mosquitoes, particularly with the advent of ATSBs, which have been shown to reduce mosquito densities in other regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Standardized schemas, databases, and public data repositories are needed for the studies of malaria vectors that encompass a remarkably diverse array of designs and rapidly generate large data volumes, often in resource-limited tropical settings lacking specialized software or informatics support. Results: Data from the majority of mosquito studies conformed to a generic schema, with data collection forms recording the experimental design, sorting of collections, details of sample pooling or subdivision, and additional observations. Generically applicable forms with standardized attribute definitions enabled rigorous, consistent data and sample management with generic software and minimal expertise. Forms use now includes 20 experiments, 8 projects, and 15 users at 3 research and control institutes in 3 African countries, resulting in 11 peer-reviewed publications. Conclusion: We have designed generic data schema that can be used to develop paper or electronic based data collection forms depending on the availability of resources. We have developed paper-based data collection forms that can be used to collect data from majority of entomological studies across multiple study areas using standardized data formats. Data recorded on these forms with standardized formats can be entered and linked with any relational database software. These informatics tools are recommended because they ensure that medical entomologists save time, improve data quality, and data collected and shared across multiple studies is in standardized formats hence increasing research outputs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]