Wind: a neglected factor in the spread of infectious diseases – Authors' reply
Authors: Noriko Endo, Elfatih A B Eltahir
Journal: The Lancet Planetary Health (2018)

We thank Joel Ellwanger and José Chies for their Correspondence regarding our Article.3Endo N Eltahir EAB Prevention of malaria transmission around reservoirs: an observational and modelling study on the effect of wind direction and village location.Lancet Planet Health. 2018; 2: e406-e413Summary Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (9) Google Scholar This Correspondence resonates with theirs and highlights a neglected approach in One Health from a larger perspective. After unprecedented momentum and success in global malaria control in the first decade of 21st century, progress appears to have stalled.1WHOWorld Malaria Report 2017. World Health Organization, Geneva2017Google Scholar The easier goals have been achieved, but the remaining challenges require more sustainable and substantial investment in health-related infrastructure in resource-limited countries. Global malaria control has focused too much on management and not enough on prevention. This disparity has existed partly because the effort and the effectiveness of management are easier to quantify (eg, how much money was spent, how many bed nets were distributed, how many cases were reduced) than those of prevention. For example, if malaria prevalence remained low for 5 years under a malaria prevention programme, one might say that malaria had been successfully prevented owing to the prevention programme, but others might argue that the programme was useless and that the prevalence would have been low without it. One of the problems of the management approach is the necessity of a continuous, sustained program; once the program weakens, malaria resurges.2Cohen JM Smith DL Cotter C et al.Malaria resurgence: a systematic review and assessment of its causes.Malar J. 2012; 11: 122Crossref PubMed Scopus (319) Google Scholar However, the prevention approach emphasises the improvement of the environment or health infrastructure so that the environmental transmission potential is reduced or the health-care system is improved in a long-lasting manner. Our study3Endo N Eltahir EAB Prevention of malaria transmission around reservoirs: an observational and modelling study on the effect of wind direction and village location.Lancet Planet Health. 2018; 2: e406-e413Summary Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (9) Google Scholar published in The Lancet Planetary Health (Sept 1, p e406–13) brings the importance of the prevention approach into light in the international arena of malaria control. Many dams are being constructed in Africa, elevating the risk of malaria in the surrounding areas.4Kibret S Lautze J McCartney M Wilson GG Nhamo L Malaria impact of large dams in sub-Saharan Africa: maps, estimates and predictions.Malar J. 2015; 14: 339Crossref PubMed Scopus (35) Google Scholar We argued that malaria can be prevented effectively around reservoirs if the locations of resettlement villages are selected carefully by considering local wind direction.3Endo N Eltahir EAB Prevention of malaria transmission around reservoirs: an observational and modelling study on the effect of wind direction and village location.Lancet Planet Health. 2018; 2: e406-e413Summary Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (9) Google Scholar This malaria prevention approach through environmental control has been implemented successfully around the world,5Jobin W Dams and diseases: ecological design and health impacts of large dams, canals and irrigation system. E & FN Spoon Press, London1999Crossref Google Scholar but it has fallen out of favour after the advent chloroquine and DDT, shifting international attention to the management approach. The next step in moving forward with this proposed idea of locating resettlement villages on the basis of malaria prevention, and inform policy, would be to obtain more supporting evidence from the field. A coordinated research effort across fields and continents is encouraged to bring global malaria control into the next era of a sustainable malaria prevention approach. We declare no competing interests. Wind: a neglected factor in the spread of infectious diseasesEmerging and reemerging infectious diseases can result from unbalanced human, animal, and environmental factors. This concept belongs to the One Health perspective and has a growing role in discussions on global health. In addition to affecting the emergence of new or neglected infectious diseases or even the maintenance of a given condition at a population level, different factors of the One Health triad (humans, non-human animals, and environment) also have an effect on human-to-human transmission of pathogens. Full-Text PDF Open AccessPrevention of malaria transmission around reservoirs: an observational and modelling study on the effect of wind direction and village locationThe effect of wind on malaria transmission around reservoirs can be substantial. The transmission of malaria can be minimised if the location of villages situated near a reservoir is carefully considered. For areas in which the environmental conditions surrounding a resevoir are equal, villages should be located downwind of reservoirs to reduce the incidence of malaria, although further research will be required in locations where wind direction changes in different seasons. Full-Text PDF Open Access