the biological control of the malaria vector疟疾病媒生物控制的.pdf

Toxins 2012, 4, 748-767; doi:10.3390/toxins4090748 OPEN ACCESS toxins ISSN 2072-6651 /journal/toxins Review The Biological Control of the Malaria Vector Layla Kamareddine Department of Biology, American University of Beirut, Bliss Street, Beirut Lebanon; E-Mail: lyk06@.lb; Tel.: +961-135-0000; Fax: +961-174-4461 Received: 29 June 2012; in revised form: 29 August 2012 / Accepted: 3 September 2012 / Published: 19 September 2012 Abstract: The call for malaria control, over the last century, marked a new epoch in the history of this disease. Many control strategies targeting either the Plasmodium parasite or the Anopheles vector were shown to be effective. Yet, the emergence of drug resistant parasites and insecticide resistant mosquito strains, along with numerous health, environmental, and ecological side effects of many chemical agents, highlighted the need to develop alternative tools that either complement or substitute conventional malaria control approaches. The use of biological means is considered a fundamental part of the recently launched malaria eradication program and has so far shown promising results, although this approach is still in its infancy. This review presents an overview of the most promising biological control tools for malaria eradication, namely fungi, bacteria, larvivorous fish, parasites, viruses and nematodes. Keywords: malaria;