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Publications

Journal Article Ahead of print

PubMed: 42082659 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-026-50986-1

Serendipitous detection of invasive malaria vector Anopheles stephensi in Kisumu, Kenya in June 2022.

Sci Rep

Authors: Bryson Alberto Ndenga, Kevin Omondi Owuor, Sammy Wambua, Brian Bartilol, Marta Maia, Joseph Mwangangi, Rodney Omukuti, Salome Chemutai, Daniel Arabu, Irene Miringu, Carren Bosire, Kavinya Mwendwa, Christabel Achieng Winter, Martin Kibet Rono, Francis Maluki Mutuku, Roz Taylor, Donal Bisanzio, Angelle Desiree LaBeaud, Keli Nicole Gerken

Affiliations

  • Centre for Global Health Research, Kenya Medical Research Institute, Kisumu, Kenya.
  • Centre for Global Health Research, Kenya Medical Research Institute, Kisumu, Kenya.
  • Pwani University Biosciences Research Centre (PUBReC), Pwani University, Kilifi, Kenya.
  • Department of Biological Sciences (DBS), Pwani University, Kilifi, Kenya.
  • Research and Conservation Support Society (RECOURSE), Kilifi, Kenya.
  • School of Biodiversity One Health & Veterinary Medicine (SBOHVM), University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK.
  • Centre for Geographic Medicine Research (Coast), Kenya Medical Research Institute - Wellcome Trust Research Programme, Kilifi, Kenya.
  • Centre for Global Health and Tropical Medicine, Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
  • Pwani University Biosciences Research Centre (PUBReC), Pwani University, Kilifi, Kenya. Research and Conservation Support Society (RECOURSE), Kilifi, Kenya.
  • Department of Chemistry and Biological Sciences, Technical University of Mombasa, Mombasa, Kenya.
  • Pwani University Biosciences Research Centre (PUBReC), Pwani University, Kilifi, Kenya. Centre for Geographic Medicine Research (Coast), Kenya Medical Research Institute - Wellcome Trust Research Programme, Kilifi, Kenya.
  • Department of Public Health, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Technical University of Mombasa, Mombasa, Kenya.
  • Department of Disease Control, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London,, WC1E 7HT, UK.
  • International Development Group, Global Health Division, RTI International, Washington, DC, USA.
  • Department of Veterinary Science, University of Turin, Turin, Italy.
  • Department of Pediatrics, Division of Infectious Diseases, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, USA.
  • Institute of Infection, Veterinary, and Ecological Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK. International Livestock Research Institute, Nairobi, Kenya. Infectious Diseases Epidemiology, Wageningen University and Research, Wageningen, The Netherlands.

Abstract

Anopheles stephensi is an invasive malaria vector that has been rapidly spreading within Africa since it was first identified in Djibouti in 2012. As of 2025, it has been identified in eight other countries: Ethiopia, Sudan, Somaliland, Eritrea, Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana and Niger. We collected mosquitoes from an urban slaughterhouse in Kisumu City in western Kenya in mid-2022 for bloodmeal analyses. 19.6% (11/56) of the amplicon sequence variants (ASVs) assigned using the basic local alignment search tool (BLAST) returned matches for mosquito species, one of which was An. stephensi, from one pool of five mosquitoes that had been morphologically classified as An. gambiae s.l. Further analysis of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase 1 (cox1) gene later confirmed the presence of An. stephensi, which were distributed across two well-supported clades. Some haplotypes grouped with others from northern Kenya (Wajir and Marsabit), while others clustered with haplotypes from Ethiopia and Sudan. This serendipitous detection of An. stephensi is the first report of the species South of the Equator. Therefore, we recommend continued entomological and malaria case surveillance in this area to evaluate how shifting vector dynamics and vector-livestock interactions may impact future control initiatives.

MeSH

Malaria, Haplotypes