Wide-scale installation of insecticide-treated curtains confers high levels of protection against malaria transmission in a hyperendemic area of Burkina Faso

In a region of Sudanese savannah in Burkina Faso, insecticide-treated curta ins were installed in 8 out of 16 zones, each covering an area of about 50 km(2). Longitudinal entomological monitoring using CDC light traps was perf ormed in 4 villages (2 intervention, 2 control) over a period of 3 years (i ncluding I year prior to intervention). In the 3rd year a cross-sectional e ntomological survey using spray catches was performed in 84 villages (40 in tervention). Indoor vector densities in protected houses showed large reduc tions (P = 0.01). The available data were also consistent with an impact on outdoor and unprotected indoor densities. The proportion of mosquitoes car rying sporozoites was 4.1% in protected villages compared with 11.5% in unp rotected villages (P = 0.07). Entomological inoculation rates fell substant ially (P = 0.01), reflecting these reductions. The impact of this intervent ion on mosquito survival appears to have been greater than those in similar trials conducted in the Gambia, Ghana and Kenya in which the intervention was applied over smaller areas.