We investigated the effects of deforestation on mi-croclimates and sporogonic development of Plasmodium falciparum parasites in Anopheles gambiae mosquitoes in an area of the western Kenyan highland prone to ma-laria epidemics. An. gambiae mosquitoes were fed with P. falciparum–infected blood through membrane feeders. Fed mosquitoes were placed in houses in forested and deforest-ed areas in a highland area (1,500 m above sea level) and monitored for parasite development. Deforested sites had higher temperatures and relative humidities, and the overall infection rate of mosquitoes was increased compared with that in forested sites. Sporozoites appeared on average 1.1 days earlier in deforested areas. Vectorial capacity was es-timated to be 77.7% higher in the deforested site than in the forested site. We showed that deforestation changes micro-climates, leading to more rapid sporogonic development of P. falciparum and to a marked increase of malaria risk in the western Kenyan highland
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