Develop and validate sampling strategies for monitoring vector infection that would be useful to evaluate the success of LF-elimination programmes.

Findings and Lessons Learned:

This represents a follow-up to a longitudinal study with data collection in 2010 and 2012 (previous funding) and now with a third time point in 2015. At all 3 time points a rigorous mosquito sampling protocol was applied and the results were analyzed to detect filarial DNA by PCR. To test the reproducibility of the results, at each time point the survey teams conducted two independent, sequential samples of approximately 11,000 mosquitoes each. In addition to surveying the entire PHC area, a nested hotspot survey was conducted in areas where there has been historically high transmission. One very important outcome of this study is the development of a standardized protocol for sampling culex mosquitoes that is statistically rigorous and reproducible. The study showed that MX can be a valuable tool for monitoring decreasing prevalence over-time. The authors propose a threshold of 0.5% in culex be used to measure 0% Ag prevalence in children for stopping MDA.