French Guiana is one of the areas in South America

In French Guiana, pyrethroids and organophosphates have been used for many years against Aedes aegypti. We aimed to establish both the resistance level of Ae. aegypti and the ultra low volume spray efficacy to provide mosquito control services with practical information to implement vector control and resistance management. Resistance to deltamethrin and fenitrothion was observed. In addition, the profound loss of efficacy of AquaK'othrine® and the moderate loss of efficacy of Paluthion® 500 were recorded. Fenitrothion remained the most effective candidate for spatial application in French Guiana until its removal in December 2010. Further investigation of the mechanism of resistance to deltamethrin demonstrated the involvement of mixed-function oxidases and, to a lesser extent, of carboxylesterases. However, these observations alone cannot explain the level of insecticide resistance we observed during tube and cage tests

Anopheles darlingi, one of the main malaria vectors in the Neotropics, is widely distributed in French Guiana, where malaria remains a major public-health problem. Elucidation of the relationships between the population dynamics of An. darlingi and local environmental factors would appear to be an essential factor in the epidemiology of human malaria in French Guiana and the design of effective vector-control strategies. In a recent investigation, longitudinal entomological surveys were carried out for 2-4 years in one village in each of three distinct endemic areas of French Guiana. Anopheles darlingi was always the anopheline mosquito that was most frequently caught on human bait, although its relative abundance (as a proportion of all the anophelines collected) and human biting rate (in bites/person-year) differed with the study site. Seasonality in the abundance of human-landing An. darlingi (with peaks at the end of the rainy season) was observed in only two of the three study sites. Just three An. darlingi were found positive for Plasmodium (either P. falciparum or P. vivax) circumsporozoite protein, giving entomological inoculation rates of 0·0-8·7 infectious bites/person-year. Curiously, no infected An. darlingi were collected in the village with the highest incidence of human malaria. Relationships between malaria incidence, An. darlingi densities, rainfall and water levels in the nearest rivers were found to be variable and apparently dependent on land-cover specificities that reflected the diversity and availability of habitats suitable for the development and reproduction of An. darlingi.

The border area between Suriname and French Guiana is considered the most affected malaria area in South America. A one-year cooperative malaria vector study was performed by the two countries, between March 2004 and February 2005, in four villages. Anopheles darlingi proved to be the most abundant anopheline species. Human biting rates differed between villages. The differential effect of high rainfall on mosquito densities in the villages suggests variation in breeding sites. Overall parity rates were low, with means varying from 0.31 to 0.56 per study site. Of the 2045 A. darlingi mosquitoes collected, 13 were found to be infected with Plasmodium: ten P. falciparum, two P. malariae and one mixed P. malariae/P. vivax. The overall annual entomological inoculation rates in the villages ranged from 8.7 to 66.4. There was an apparent lack of relationship between number of malaria cases and periods of high mosquito density. The tendency of Anopheles darlingi to bite during sleeping hours provides opportunity for malaria control using impregnated bed nets, a strategy just introduced in Suriname that may also find its way into French Guiana.

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