And the investigation of the doctor Okumu has opened a promising new way to tackle the problem. A long investigation to get that knowledge, the doctor Okumu and his team of Tanzania’s Ifakara Health Institute had to complete a detailed investigation. Mosquitoes bite in the leg area and did not look at people, but they smell people. So the initial challenge was to identify chemicals that humans produce and that attract mosquitoes, explained. After long research, determined that a product mix that smells like dirty socks is more attracting insects.
To verify the tests, a small community in the African country, he placed in the interior of a House mix synthetic and in another house near a human Guinea pig. Check what that consistently, four times more mosquitoes came to the House with the synthetic blend that the House with the volunteer, said Okumu. Attract them to kill them but the final objective of Okumu is not attracting the mosquitos that transmit the malaria, but kill them. For this purpose he has created a device that mimics a human being. Inside you have placed agents and dirty socks to liquidate the mosquitoes. With Grand Challenges Canada and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation money, during the next two years Okumu will improve the device, will examine its epidemiological impact, will find out the best place to put the appliances in the villages and find the way to culturally more practical for use. After two years, the researcher hopes to have a prototype ready for mass production.