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Malaria study goes to the desert

16 May 2006

Malaria Awareness Week: 15 - 21 May 2006

Scientists studying malaria-carrying mosquitoes and the effects of the disease on people are about to undertake a unique experiment in West Africa.

Photograph: Banizoumbo, Niger. Traditional huts at the research site where a single hut has been specially constructed and instrumented as part of the University of Liverpool/AMMA malaria research project.

The researchers plan to examine the factors in climate variation that can affect disease epidemics. They have built an indoor experimental lab in the guise of a specially constructed traditional African thatched hut (above), to replicate conditions that many people live in. Located in the Sahel region of Niger, the hut is equipped with instruments to study the temperature, humidity, soil conditions and other factors that affect the behaviour of the mosquitoes.

The project team involves scientists from the Universities of Leeds and Liverpool, and the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology. Funding has been provided by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)

Dr Andy Morse from the University of Liverpool, who is leading the malaria project says: "Predicting the West African monsoon and its likely effects is more difficult than, for example, relating rainfall patterns to malaria in Southern Africa. By assessing local climate factors that lead to increased disease risk, and looking at long range meteorological forecasts for the region from global models, we can contribute to the eventual creation of a malaria model that predicts likely epidemics - ultimately becoming a component within a disease early warning system."

The project will help to assess the variations between seasonal malaria and its effects on people - some with natural immunity in malarial regions and others who will have no immunity to the disease due to its infrequent occurrence where they live. In these regions variations in climate could make malaria epidemics more common.

This research forms part of an EU funded project - the African Monsoon Multidisciplinary Analysis (AMMA) and aims to show how the climate can affect the transmission patterns of malaria. The malaria transmission data is provided through collaboration with CERMES - a Niger based medical research centre. The establishment and servicing of microclimate instrumentation is being undertaken by IRD-Niamey.

Malaria is a major health and economic issue in Africa - it is a bigger killer than AIDS and more Africans die on a daily basis from malaria than any other cause, according to the World Health Foundation. Malaria kills over 1 million people each year with the majority of these being children; Child mortality rates are currently at around 30%.

By comparing information from ground based instruments and from the NERC/Met Office BAe 146 aircraft - which will make measurements in the skies above West Africa - improvements in scientific understanding will contribute to the building of a predictive model of the malaria risks for the region. Satellite images will also help the researchers to identify where the wet and humid areas, which encourage mosquitoes, will occur after rainfall.

Some of the scientists will leave for Niger next week (week commencing 22 May) to prepare for the research programme, which will run until August 2006.

Further information

Dr Andy Morse
Senior Lecturer
Department of Geography, University of Liverpool
Tel: 0151 794 2879

Kate Spark
Media Relations Manager
Tel: 0151 794 2247 (out of hours 07970 247391)

NERC Press Office
Natural Environment Research Council
Polaris House, North Star Avenue
Swindon, SN2 1EU
Tel: 01793 411561
Mob: 07917 557215

Notes

1. AMMA - UK includes: University of Cambridge. The Centre for Ecology and Hydrology Wallingford, Oxon. University of East Anglia. Institute for Atmospheric Science School of Earth and Environment University of Leeds. University of Leicester. The Department of Geography University of Liverpool. University of Manchester. Environmental Systems Science Centre University of Reading. University of York.

2. A funded initiative of the EU, the African Monsoon Multidisciplinary Analyses (AMMA) programme is part of the AMMA international collaboration which aims to improve understanding of the processes which control the West African monsoon and its impacts. The collaboration involves: NERC, Met Office, Centre National de Recherche Meteorologique (CNRS), Meteo France, Institut des Science Atmospheric et du climat (CNR), Institut National des Science de l'Univers (INSU), Institut de Recherche pour le Developpement (IRD), University of Munich. These projects are coordinated through the AMMA-International structure which links AMMA and the World Climate Research Program (WCRP) and the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP).

3. Dr Andy Morse is from the University of Liverpool's Department of Geography. The University of Liverpool is one of the UK's leading research institutions. It attracts collaborative and contract research commissions from a wide range of national and international organisations valued at more than £90m annually.

4. The Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and the Met Office jointly commissioned the BAe146 aircraft's conversion for use as a research aircraft, and have purchased blocks of time when it will fly on research missions. These activities are managed by the Facility for Airborne Atmospheric Measurements (FAAM) at Cranfield University, which is funded by the NERC Centres for Atmospheric Sciences (NCAS) and the UK Met Office. The modified BAe 146 aircraft is owned by BAe Systems and operated by Directflight.

5. NERC is one of the UK's research councils. It uses a budget of about £350m a year to fund and carry out impartial scientific research in the sciences of the environment. NERC trains the next generation of independent environmental scientists. It is addressing some of the key questions facing mankind, such as global warming, renewable energy and sustainable economic development.

Press release: 29/06

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