{"id":352827,"date":"2025-12-27T16:28:45","date_gmt":"2025-12-27T10:58:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/?p=352827"},"modified":"2025-12-27T16:28:45","modified_gmt":"2025-12-27T10:58:45","slug":"anopheles-stephensi-and-malaria-in-india","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/anopheles-stephensi-and-malaria-in-india\/","title":{"rendered":"Anopheles Stephensi and Malaria in India"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>N<\/strong><b>ews: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Urban malaria driven by invasive <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Anopheles stephensi<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> threatens India\u2019s malaria elimination targets, according to the Health Ministry\u2019s Malaria Elimination Technical Report 2025.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>About Anopheles Stephensi<\/h2>\n<figure id=\"attachment_352828\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-352828\" style=\"width: 353px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-352828\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Source-Science-Direct.jpg?resize=353%2C241&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Anopheles Stephensi\" width=\"353\" height=\"241\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Source-Science-Direct.jpg?resize=300%2C205&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Source-Science-Direct.jpg?resize=768%2C526&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Source-Science-Direct.jpg?w=841&amp;ssl=1 841w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 353px) 100vw, 353px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-352828\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Source &#8211; Science Direct<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Anopheles stephensi<\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> is a significant <strong>mosquito species<\/strong> now <\/span><b>recognised as an invasive threat <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">because it thrives in urban environments.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><strong>Transmits: <\/strong>The species efficiently transmits <b>Plasmodium falciparum<\/b><b> and <\/b><b>P. vivax<\/b><b>, <\/b>creating <strong>challenges for existing malaria control efforts<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><b>Urban Adaptability:<\/b> It is a <b>major driver of &#8220;urban malaria&#8221;<\/b> due to its ability to <strong>breed in artificial containers<\/strong> such as overhead tanks, construction sites, and discarded tires.<\/li>\n<li><b>Biting Patterns<\/b>: It is typically <strong>endophagic (feeds indoors) and endophilic (rests indoors).<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>In urban areas, it shows a <strong>greater preference<\/strong> for human blood.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><b>Resilience<\/b>: The species is known for its <strong>high salinity tolerance<\/strong> and ability to <strong>survive extreme temperatures<\/strong>, allowing it to persist year-round.<\/li>\n<li><b>Distribution<\/b>: Earlier confined to <strong>parts of South Asia and the Arabian Peninsula<\/strong>, it has since <strong>spread to several countries in Africa and Asia,<\/strong> prompting global concern.<\/li>\n<li><b>Threat<\/b>: WHO considers its spread a <strong>major potential threat<\/strong> and has launched an initiative against its spread in Africa.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>About Malaria in India<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Malaria<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">: It is a <\/span><b>disease caused by parasites<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> that are transmitted to people through the bites of <\/span><b>infected female Anopheles mosquitoes<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>There are five kinds of malarial parasites<\/b> \u2014 Plasmodium falciparum, Plasmodium vivax (the commonest one), Plasmodium malariae, Plasmodium ovale, and Plasmodium knowlesi.<\/li>\n<li><b>India aims <\/b>to <strong>eliminate malaria by 2030<\/strong>, with an <strong>intermediate goal of achieving zero indigenous cases by 2027,<\/strong> in line with WHO strategy.<\/li>\n<li><b>India has reduced malaria cases <\/b>from <strong>11.7 lakh in 2015<\/strong> to about <strong>2.27 lakh in 2024<\/strong>, with <strong>deaths declining by 78%.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>By 2024, <b>92 per cent of districts reported an annual parasite incidence below one<\/b>, indicating low transmission levels.<\/li>\n<li><b>Limited high-burden pockets: <\/b>Malaria now persists mainly in high-burden pockets, including districts in <b>Odisha, Tripura, and Mizoram<\/b>, shaped by local ecological conditions and health-system access.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>About Malaria Elimination Technical Report 2025<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The report was <\/span><b>released by the Health Ministry<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">It was <\/span><b>compiled by the ICMR\u2013National Institute of Malaria Research and the National Centre for Vector Borne Disease Control<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The report highlights <\/span><b>major declines in malaria cases and deaths<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> and India\u2019s transition to the <\/span><b>pre-elimination phase<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>News: Urban malaria driven by invasive Anopheles stephensi threatens India\u2019s malaria elimination targets, according to the Health Ministry\u2019s Malaria Elimination Technical Report 2025. About Anopheles Stephensi Anopheles stephensi is a significant mosquito species now recognised as an invasive threat because it thrives in urban environments. Transmits: The species efficiently transmits Plasmodium falciparum and P. vivax,&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/anopheles-stephensi-and-malaria-in-india\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Anopheles Stephensi and Malaria in India<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10393,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1566,956,1738,12039,11834],"tags":[11872],"class_list":["post-352827","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-daily-factly-articles","category-schemes-and-programs","category-science-and-technology-daily-factly-articles","category-knolls","category-species-in-news","tag-9pm-daily-factly","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","views":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/352827","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10393"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=352827"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/352827\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=352827"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=352827"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=352827"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}