Speaking at a national malaria forum in Nairobi on Monday, Charles Mbogo of the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) presented new evidence showing that malaria-causing mosquitos in Kenya have developed resistance to the most common chemicals derived from pyrethroids and DDT, which “could be a major blow to the country’s strategy to eradicate malaria by 2017,” Nigeria’s the Nation reports. “This new development comes at a time most parts of the country, especially the coastal region, have been recording a significant drop in malaria deaths,” the newspaper writes.

“To determine how a chemical-tolerant mosquito will affect” the use of insecticide-treated bednets “as a control tool in the overall malaria reduction strategy, the World Health Organisation has commissioned a new study to be carried out in western Kenya, Benin and Cameroon,” according to the Nation. “Treated bednets have been one of the most popular and heavily funded malaria control methods in Kenya, consuming up to 60 percent of funds from the U.S. President’s Malaria Initiative and 40 percent of the Global Fund malaria package,” the newspaper notes (Gathura, 10/10).