Entomological monitoring of annual mass drug administrations for the control or elimination of lymphatic filariasis.

Together, the interruption of transmission, through annual mass treatments with antifilarial drugs, and the alleviation of suffering in chronic cases form the principal strategy of the Global Programme to Eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis (GPELF). Entomological monitoring of the annual mass drug administrations is necessary to assess transmission levels and progress towards control or elimination of lymphatic filariasis. However, the traditional procedures for entomological monitoring, such as the dissection of mosquitoes caught manually, either as they come to bite at night or as they rest by day, are cumbersome, cost-prohibitive and often not feasible in large-scale control programmes. The collection of mosquitoes in traps and the assessment of their infection status using PCR-based assays offer promise and need to be established as a routine part of control programmes. It is proposed that-to verify the interruption of transmission or determine the prevalence of mosquito infection-1% of the villages/communities in each intervention unit be sampled, mosquitoes be collected from at least 100 households in each study village, and 10 female mosquitoes or all of those collected (whichever is the lower number) from each study house then be checked for infection.