Changing factors in Meghalaya sees malaria-causing mosquitos shift from forests to fields: Study

The mention of malaria often conjures the image of mosquitoes buzzing in and around homes. But the mosquitoes that spread malaria in North East India, once associated with forests, may now be finding newer homes in rice fields.

A recent study done in the northeastern state of Meghalaya suggests that some of the Anopheles mosquito species, which are responsible for spreading malaria, are changing composition in the region. This may be linked to deforestation, increased rice cultivation and widespread use of mosquito nets.

India had an estimated 3,389,000 malaria cases in 2022, making it the country with the highest number of cases in South and Southeast Asia. There were a total of 249 million cases recorded worldwide and 608,000 people died from the disease in 85 countries last year, according to an estimate by the World Health Organization.

“The initial reason for doing the study in Meghalaya was that the malaria rate has traditionally been extremely high in North East India,” says Catherine Walton, co-author of the study and senior lecturer at School of Natural Sciences, University of Manchester. There were 237 deaths in the state from the disease in 2007. This number dropped to 40 in 2015 and to three in 2021.

In 2016, India launched a National Framework for Malaria Elimination Programme, which aims to...

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