Measuring outcomes of the first trial of odour-baited mosquito traps for malaria control using a state of the art health and demographic surveillance system

Background The SolarMal project aims to eliminate malaria from Rusinga Island, western Kenya, by using the nationwide adopted strategy of malaria prevention (insecticide-treated bed nets and case management) augmented with mass trapping of mosquitoes. Mosquito traps, that emit human odour mimics to lure and trap malaria mosquitoes, are provided at the household level, with the intervention rolled out gradually to achieve mass coverage by mid2015. Real time health and demographic data of the study population of 24,000 individuals are constantly being accumulated, and are instrumental in informing the study design and project logistics of SolarMal.