Comparison of infectivity of Plasmodium vivax to wild-caught and laboratory-adapted (colonized) Anopheles arabiensis mosquitoes in Ethiopia

Background Mosquito-feeding assays that assess transmission of Plasmodium from man-to-mosquito typically use laboratory mosquito colonies. The microbiome and genetic background of local mosquitoes may be different and influence Plasmodium transmission efficiency. In order to interpret transmission studies to the local epidemiology, it is therefore crucial to understand the relationship between infectivity in laboratory-adapted and local mosquitoes. Methods We assessed infectivity of Plasmodium vivax- infected patients from Adama, Ethiopia, using laboratory-adapted (colony) and wild-caught (wild) mosquitoes raised from larval collections in paired feeding experiments. Feeding assays used 4–6 day-old female Anopheles arabiensis mosquitoes after starvation for 12 h (colony) and 18 h (wild). Oocyst development was assessed microscopically 7 days post-feeding. Wild mosquitoes were identified morphologically and confirmed by genotyping. Asexual parasites and gametocytes were quantified in donor blood by microscopy. Results In 36 paired experiments (25 P. vivax infections and 11 co-infections with P. falciparum ), feeding efficiency was higher in colony (median: 62.5%; interquartile range, IQR: 47.0–79.0%) compared to wild mosquitoes (median: 27.8%; IQR: 17.0–38.0%; Z = 5.02; P < 0.001). Plasmodium vivax from infectious individuals (51.6%, 16/31) infected a median of 55.0% (IQR: 6.7–85.7%; range: 5.5–96.7%; n = 14) of the colony and 52.7% (IQR: 20.0–80.0%; range: 3.2–95.0%; n = 14) of the wild mosquitoes. A strong association ( ρ (16) = 0.819; P < 0.001) was observed between the proportion of infected wild and colony mosquitoes. A positive association was detected between microscopically detected gametocytes and the proportion of infected colony ( ρ (31) = 0.452; P = 0.011) and wild ( ρ (31) = 0.386; P = 0.032) mosquitoes. Conclusions Infectivity assessments with colony and wild mosquitoes yielded similar infection results. This finding supports the use of colony mosquitoes for assessments of the infectious reservoir for malaria in this setting whilst acknowledging the importance of mosquito factors influencing sporogonic development of Plasmodium parasites.