University of Idaho researchers can more effectively research malaria, thanks to a new animal research laboratory retrofitted to hold mosquitos.
Before this new addition on campus, there was no place to hold mosquitos for research. The reason for the change was the research of Shirly Luckhart, a UI professor and an expert in the field of mosquito biology and physiology.
“We wanted to make sure that Dr. Luckhart would be super happy when she got here, and she would have a place to do her work. So, it was retrofit mostly for her lab, but we are also trying to get other researchers to work in there as well,” said Jaclyn Huffman, the animal research laboratory facility manager.
Huffman said entering the facility or taking photos inside it are prohibited because of liability concerns involved with animal research.
Jaclyn Huffman | Argonaut
Huffman said the upgrade to the facility allows the lab to meet safety requirements for holding mosquitos set forth by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“We instituted a couple new barriers, new doors and some netting just to make sure there is no chance of escape,” Huffman said. “It was a pretty big project and we were able to do some cool things back there.”
To hold the insects safely, all the nooks and crannies mosquitos could possibly get into needed to be sealed. Huffman and her colleagues tried to ensure there were no gaps in the walls, ceiling, sprinkler heads, light fixtures, sink drains and air intakes.
“We built a lot of customized screening to cover anything large enough for a mosquito to get through, which was really interesting,” Huffman said. “We have these cable trays that go through the facility for internet, phone, lighting — you know, a whole bunch of stuff for electrical things. I actually hand sewed this netting that we hung around that.”
Luckhart and the researchers working in her lab look forward to using this new facility to continue their studies on how malaria operates in human hosts and in mosquitos.
In 2016, the World Health Organization identified 21 countries with the potential to achieve zero indigenous cases of malaria by 2020. Since then only one of those countries, Paraguay, has been certified malaria-free. While 11 of those countries are still on track to be malaria free by 2020, nine of them have gone either somewhat or entirely off track.
Luckhart is leading research on several different projects aiming to eliminate malaria, prevent its transmission, and treat people infected by malaria in these resource-limited countries.
“There are many challenges with malaria,” said Luckhart. “We have insecticide resistant mosquitos, the parasites become drug resistant, and a lack of resource in many of the effected countries makes it difficult to find all the cases of infected people. Also, once you do eliminate malaria from a country it is difficult to keep it out because people and mosquitos cross boarders all the time.”
Gavin Green can be reached at [email protected]or on Twitter @gavingreenphoto