Multiple insecticide resistance target sites in adult field strains of An. gambiae s.l. from southeast Senegal.
Authors: Diouf El hadji , Niang El hadji Amadou , Samb Badara , Diagne Cheikh Tidiane , Diouf Mbaye , Konaté Abdoulaye , Dia Ibrahima , Faye Ousmane , Konaté Lassana 
Published: September 2020

Background: Malaria prevention strategies are based on the use of long-lasting insecticide-treated mosquito nets (LLINs), indoor residual spraying of insecticides (IRS) and seasonal malaria chemoprevention (SMC). The combination of these strategies with artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACTs) has led to a significant reduction in malaria cases. However, malaria remains a major public health issue in most sub-Saharan African countries. Indeed, the resistance of vectors to most WHO-approved insecticides could jeopardize vector-control strategies. This study examines insecticide resistance and associated genetic mutations among malaria vectors in southeast Senegal. Methods: The study was conducted in October and November 2014 in two sites in southeast Senegal. An. gambiae s.l. populations were sampled from Kedougou (Kedougou district) and Wassadou-Badi (Tambacounda district) and were evaluated for insecticide resistance according to WHO susceptibility tests. Specimens were 3 to 5-day-old adults raised from collected larvae. Eleven insecticides belonging to the four known classes of insecticides were assessed. Mosquito species were identified and mutations associated with insecticide resistance (ace-1, rdl (A296S or A296G), Vgsc-1014F and Vgsc-1014S) were determined. Results: A total of 3,742 An. gambiae s.l. were exposed to insecticides (2,439 from Kedougou and 1,303 from Wassadou-Badi). In both sites, mosquitoes showed high levels of resistance to all the five pyrethroids tested (mortality rates ranged from 42.8 to 81.4% in Kedougou and 52.4 to 86.4% in Wassadou-Badi) as well as to dieldrin (67.8 and 83%) and DDT (12.7 and 55%). The mosquitoes were susceptible to pirimiphos-methyl (mortality rate 100%) and malathion (mortality rates 100% and 99% in Kedougou and Wassadou-Badi respectively). An. gambiae s.l. populations from Kedougou were also resistant to bendiocarb and fenitrothion. Of the 745 An. gambiae s.l. genotyped An. gambiae s.s. (71.6%) was the predominant species, followed by An. arabiensis (21.7%), An. coluzzii (6.3%) and hybrids (An. gambiae s.s./An. coluzzii; 0.4%). The Vgsc-1014F mutation was widely distributed and is predominant in An. gambiae s.s. and An. coluzzii in comparison to An. arabiensis. Vgsc-1014S was present in An. gambiae s.l. populations in Wassadou but not in Kedougou. The ace-1 and rdl mutations were more frequent in An. gambiae s.s. compared to An. arabiensis whereas they were detected weakly in An. coluzzii populations.Conclusions: The present study demonstrates the resistance of malaria vectors to pyrethroids and organo chlorines in southeast Senegal as well as the presence of genetic mutations associated with this resistance in An. gambiae s.l. No Vgsc-1014S mutation was detected in An. gambiae s.s. population in Kedougou. These findings are key for monitoring and managing the resistance of vectors to insecticides in this region.