A novel xenomonitoring technique using mosquito excreta/feces for the detection of filarial parasites and malaria
Given the continued successes of the world’s lymphatic filariasis (LF) elimination programs and the growing successes of many malaria elimination efforts, the necessity of low cost tools and methodologies applicable to long-term disease surveillance is greater than ever before. As many countries reach the end of their LF mass drug administration programs and a growing number of countries realize unprecedented successes in their malaria intervention efforts, the need for practical molecular xenomonitoring (MX), capable of providing surveillance for disease recrudescence in settings of decreased parasite prevalence is increasingly clear. Current protocols, however, require testing of mosquitoes in pools of 25 or fewer, making high-throughput examination a challenge. The new method we present here screens the excreta/feces from hundreds of mosquitoes per pool and provides proofof-concept for a practical alternative to traditional methodologies resulting in significant cost and labor savings.