This urban mosquito threatens to derail the fight against malaria in Africa

The Anopheles stephensi mosquito, seen here sitting on a window, is year-round pest that has invaded urban areas in parts of Africa, and has recently been the cause of dramatic outbreaks of malaria in Ethiopia. (Soumyabrata Roy/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Early this year, a startling report came out of the city of Dire Dawa, a transportation hub in eastern Ethiopia. "It was the first urban malaria outbreak in Ethiopia during the dry season," says Sarah Zohdy, a CDC entomologist who works with the U.S. President's Malaria Initiative. "And for context," she adds, "dry season malaria in Ethiopia is not something that happens."

During the rainy season or in rural areas, malaria is common in Africa, the region of the world hardest hit by the disease. So the report from Ethiopia was unusual. In new research Zohdy and her colleagues are presenting Nov. 1 at the annual meeting of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, she says the reason for that surge in cases seems to fall squarely on the shoulders (or rather, the proboscises) of a relatively new arrival in Ethiopia — the Anopheles stephensi mosquito.