Sampling African Malaria Vectors Using Limburger Cheese and 'milk cream' as Odour Baits

The efficacy of Limburger cheese as an odour bait for sampling African malaria vectors was evaluated. Studies were done in Suba district, Western Kenya at Lwanda Nyamasare village and in a screen house set up at the Thomas Odhiambo campus of the International Center of Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE). Preliminary investigations compared mosquitoes caught by a Counter Flow Geometry (CFG) trap baited with Limburger cheese, a standard centres for disease control (COC) light trap, an Entry trap and Man Landing Catches (MLC). Comparative studies on the efficacy of Limburger cheese and Milk cream' as odour baits for sampling African malaria vectors were done using CFG traps and COC light traps. The efficacy of Limburger cheese in combination with heat and moisture in sampling Anopheles gambiae s.s in a screen-house was done using a prototype odour baited trap. In the Preliminary investigations there was no significant difference in the total number of An. funestus caught by the COC light trap, the CFG trap baited with Limburger cheese and the MLC. In the comparative studies using CFG traps and the COC light traps there were no significant differences in the number of mosquitoes collected in the traps baited with Limburger cheese and those baited with 'Milk cream'. The combination of heat, moisture and Limburger cheese gave a rather good attractant effect for An. gambiae s.s mosquitoes in the screen house. These results indicate that Limburger cheese baited traps can effectively sample wild populations of African malaria vectors, more so An. funestus. The results also indicate that 'Milk cream' when used as an odour bait can attract African malaria vectors will equal-power as Limburger cheese. It is therefore recommendable to use 'Milk cream' as an odour bait for sampling African malaria vectors instead of Limburger cheese because, unlike Limburger cheese, 'Milk cream'is locally available in poor African villages where malaria is endemic.