The malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum, increases the frequency of multiple feeding of its mosquito vector, Anopheles gambiae.

摘要

In this field study conducted at Namawala, Kilombero, Tanzania, on 23 May to 1 June 1996, it is shown that P. falciparum alters the blood-feeding behaviour of its vector, A. gambiae s.l., in two ways. Firstly, A. gambiae infected with sporozoites, the parasite stage that is transmitted from the mosquito to a human, took up larger blood meals than uninfected A. gambiae. Whereas 72% of the uninfected A. gambiae had obtained a full blood meal, 82% of the infected ones had engorged fully. Secondly, A.gambiae harbouring sporozoites were more likely to bite several people per night. 22% of the infected A. gambiae, but only 10% of the uninfected A. gambiae, contained blood from at least two people. It is concluded that the observed changes in blood-feeding behaviour allow the parasite to spread more rapidly among human hosts, and thus confirm that the parasite manipulates the mosquito to increase its own transmission.