Eradication of Anopheles gambiae in Brazil
Erradicación de Anopheles gambiae en Brasil
- Date
- 1938-1940 · confidence high
- Place
- Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil
- Credited to
- Fred L. Soper and David B. Wilson (Rockefeller Foundation and Brazilian government)
- Field
- Life & health
What was discovered
A sanitation campaign that eliminated the African mosquito Anopheles gambiae from north-east Brazil, introduced in 1930 and responsible for a malaria epidemic. It was the first continental eradication of an invasive vector.
The 1938-1939 epidemic caused around 20,000 deaths; the African vector was declared eliminated in 1940. Malaria remains present in other parts of Brazil.
What it led to
- A model for vector eradication campaigns (Aedes aegypti, 1940s-1950s)
- The continental yellow fever programme
- WHO's eradication strategy