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A new study is now warning that gains made in the fight against malaria in East Africa could be drastically eroded in the coming months.
The study by the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (Icipe) attributes this to an invasive weed that has the ability to sustain the malaria-transmitting mosquito, Anopheles.
According to the research, the famine weed (Parthenium hysterophorus) can extend the life of a mosquito even in the absence of a blood meal.
The study notes that the weed is one of the world's most serious invasive plants that is able to thrive and spread aggressively outside its original geographical areas.
"The success of the weed is based on its huge ability to adapt to harsh environmental conditions," says the study in part.
In addition, the weed grows very fast and is able to store large amounts of seeds, which are small and light in the soil.
In East Africa, the weed is extensively spread over cultivated and pastoral lands, including malaria-endemic zones where it has become one of the plants that Anopheles mosquitoes prefer to feed on.
According to Icipe scientist Baldwyn Torto, the weed had raised considerable concern among governments and scientific agencies in East Africa.
Prof Torto said the weed has negative effects on people and livestock, agriculture and the environment.
"The weed produces a highly toxic compound called parthenin, which can cause dermatitis, hay fever and asthma in people," he said.
Parthenin is poisonous to livestock and it also contaminates milk and meat in animals that have fed on it.
The study established that when the female Anopheles mosquitoes feed on Parthenium, they survived much longer.
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