27 Jun 16 21 Dec 16

Yellow Fever: How to fight mosquitoes

Following the outbreak of yellow fever in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), linked to the hit neighbouring Angola in December, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) conducted activities in the south-west of the country to stop the spread of the disease. 

Entomologist Andre Yebakima was among MSF's team who carried out an initial assessment.

An entomologist's role in a yellow fever response

In a vector-borne disease such as yellow fever, there are three components: the virus, humans and the vector. In this case, the mosquito transmits the virus. To combat the disease, all three components must be considered. The entomologist (an insect specialist) will, therefore, focus on the mosquito.

Our goal is to locate the larval habitats, in other words, the mosquitoes' breeding grounds. These larval habitats are varied; for example, they might be small piles of rubbish in a courtyard or garden where a bit of water has stagnated, old abandoned tyres, water tanks, blocked gutters, and so on.



Without mosquitoes, there is no transmission. So, besides vaccination, eradicating the mosquito is another way to break the chain of transmission.  


Methods used to combat mosquitoes




Generally speaking, community action and health promotion are essential to explaining the disease, the role played by mosquitoes and what should be done in terms of prevention.


Identifying where to focus the response

Generally, we have markers: a neighbourhood where there are suspected cases, where the population is denser. Such indicators will help guide us in the field.

Once in the field, as we know it is a domestic mosquito that lives near people, we will carry out visits in and around homes to identify areas where stagnant water may collect.In Kinshasa, the primary goal was to assess the vector, the mosquito, by sampling: what species were responsible and where their breeding grounds were.

It also involved identifying the local partners that MSF could work with and assessing needs in order to prepare the MSF response effort: human resources, products, equipment, etc.




find out more about our work with yellow fever