Malaria is a disease that has been with us for all of human history. Malarial parasites are known to infect all terrestrial vertebrates. They are notable for their ability to survive and develop in the environment of vectors that transmit them from host to host, spreading disease. (Editorial)

Vector-borne diseases impose enormous health and economic burdens and additional methods to control vector populations are clearly needed. The Sterile Insect Technique (SIT) has been successful against agricultural pests, but is not in large-scale use for suppressing or eliminating mosquito populations.

Several sub-Saharan African countries have rapidly scaled up the number of households that own insecticide-treated mosquito nets (ITNs). Although the efficacy of ITNs in trials has been shown, evidence on their impact under routine conditions is limited to a few countries and the extent to which the scale-up of ITNs has improved population health remains uncertain.

There is robust evidence of the efficacy of insecticide-treated mosquito nets (ITNs) in reducing malaria parasite prevalence, incidence, and all-cause child mortality from carefully conducted trials in sub-Saharan Africa across a range of transmission settings. Trials have shown ITNs to both significantly reduce Plasmodium falciparum prevalence among children under 5 years old by 13% and post-neonatal (1–59 months) all-cause mortality by 18% in areas of stable malaria transmission in Africa.

Rapidly emerging insecticide resistance is creating an urgent need for new active ingredients to control the adult mosquitoes that vector malaria. Biopesticides based on the spores of entomopathogenic fungi have shown considerable promise by causing very substantial mortality within 7–14 days of exposure. This mortality will generate excellent malaria control if there is a high likelihood that mosquitoes contact fungi early in their adult lives.