Background: Resistance to major public health insecticides in Côte d'Ivoire has intensified and now threatens the long-term effectiveness of malaria vector control interventions.
Methods: This study evaluated the bioefficacy of conventional and next-generation long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs), determined resistance profiles, and characterized molecular and metabolic mechanisms in wild Anopheles coluzzii from Southeast Côte d'Ivoire in 2019.
Results: Phenotypic resistance was intense: >25% of mosquitoes survived exposure to 10 times the doses of pyrethroids required to kill susceptible populations. Similarly, the 24-hour mortality rate with deltamethrin-only LLINs was very low and not significantly different from that with an untreated net. Sublethal pyrethroid exposure did not induce significant delayed vector mortality effects 72 hours later. In contrast, LLINs containing the synergist piperonyl butoxide, or new insecticides clothianidin and chlorfenapyr, were highly toxic to A. coluzzii. Pyrethroid-susceptible A. coluzzii were significantly more likely to be infected with malaria, compared with those that survived insecticidal exposure. Pyrethroid resistance was associated with significant overexpression of CYP6P4, CYP6P3, and CYP6Z1.
Conclusions: Study findings raise concerns regarding the operational failure of standard LLINs and support the urgent deployment of vector control interventions incorporating piperonyl butoxide, chlorfenapyr, or clothianidin in areas of high resistance intensity in Côte d'Ivoire.
Keywords: Anopheles coluzzii; CYP6P3; CYP6P4; CYP6Z1; Plasmodium falciparum; Côte d’Ivoire; PBO; chlorfenapyr; clothianidin; insecticide resistance; long-lasting insecticidal nets.
© The Author(s) 2020. Published by Oxford University Press for the Infectious Diseases Society of America.