Villavicencio, the capital city of the Department of Meta, Colombia, is at high risk for the urbanization of malaria because of the region's ecological conditions, as well as the permanent presence of infected human populations arriving from rural areas. From August to November 2002 and in April 2003, anopheline collections were undertaken in the area. Isofamilies were obtained from 331 wild females, which were then recorded according to their abundance as follows: Anopheles marajoara, Anopheles rangeli, Anopheles braziliensis, Anopheles darlingi, and Anopheles apicimacula. Anopoheles darlingi showed the highest biting activity (3.0) between 1800 and 1900 h. Forty-five breeding places were sampled, 64% of which were fish ponds, 6.7% flooded meadows, and 6.7% drainpipes, with these being the most representative locations. All sampled breeding sites were positive for anophelines. Anopheles marajoara could play an important role as an auxiliary vector in Villavicencio's urban area. Control measures should be aimed at weeding the marginal areas around fish ponds and at evaluating the use of impregnated bed-nets.

Background Malaria causes more than 200 million cases of illness and 400,000 deaths each year across 90 countries. The World Health Organization (WHO) set a goal for 35 countries to eliminate malaria by 2030, with an intermediate milestone of 10 countries by 2020. In 2017, the WHO established the Elimination-2020 (E-2020) initiative to help countries achieve their malaria elimination goals and included 21 countries with the potential to eliminate malaria by 2020. Methods Across its three levels of activity (country, region and global), the WHO developed normative and implementation guidance on strategies and activities to eliminate malaria; provided technical support and subnational operational assistance; convened national malaria programme managers at three global meetings to share innovations and best practices; advised countries on strengthening their strategy to prevent re-establishment and preparing for WHO malaria certification; and contributed to maintaining momentum towards elimination through periodic evaluations, monitoring and oversight of progress in the E-2020 countries. Changes in the number of indigenous cases in E-2020 countries between 2016 and 2020 are reported, along with the number of countries that eliminated malaria and received WHO certification. Results The median number of indigenous cases in the E-2020 countries declined from 165.5 (interquartile range [IQR] 14.25–563.75) in 2016 to 78 (IQR 0–356) in 2020; 12 (57%) countries reported reductions in indigenous cases over that period, of which 7 (33%) interrupted malaria transmission and maintained a malaria-free status through 2020 and 4 (19%) were certified malaria-free by the WHO. Two countries experienced outbreaks of malaria in 2020 and 2021 attributed, in part, to the COVID-19 pandemic. Conclusions Although the E-2020 countries contributed to the achievement of the 2020 global elimination milestone, the initiative highlights the difficulties countries face to interrupt malaria transmission, even when numbers of cases are very low. The 2025 global elimination milestone is now approaching, and the lessons learned, experience gained, and updated guidance developed during the E-2020 initiative will help serve the countries seeking to eliminate malaria by 2025.

La fiebre de dengue es endémica para el departamento del Atlántico; en 2007 se presentaron 3,104 casos. Para la prevención y control de esta enfermedad se ha usado el larvicida temefos. Sin embargo, se desconoce si la presión a la que han sido sometidas las poblaciones de Aedes aegypti con este insecticida ha generado resistencia. Se evaluó la susceptibilidad a temefos en larvas de A. aegypti en siete municipios y un corregimiento del departamento del Atlántico, entre el 2007 y el 2008. Se realizaron bioensayos utilizando la concentración diagnóstica para temefos (0,012 ppm) en larvas de tercer y cuarto estadio temprano de A. aegypti (F2) aplicando la metodología recomendada por la Organización Mundial de la Salud (OMS). Se realizaron dos repeticiones, cada una con cuatro réplicas y un control. En dos localidades se registró susceptibilidad al temefos (mortalidad de 100%), en cuatro se requiere verificación para vigilancia (mortalidades entre 86% 93%) y en dos se presentó resistencia (mortalidad de 34% y 45%). Se encontraron diferencias significativas en los porcentajes de mortalidad entre las poblaciones (Kruskal-Wallis, P < 0.05). Es necesario monitorear las poblaciones de este vector en el departamento del Atlántico con el fin de generar la línea base de susceptibilidad que permita implementar estrategias preventivas y métodos alternativos de control pertinentes a cada localidad para disminuir la presión de selección a la que están sometidas las larvas por la aplicación de este larvicida.

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