Efficacies of Medicinal Plant Extracts Against Blood-Sucking Parasites

Abstract

Mosquito-borne diseases are endemic in more than over 100 countries, causing mortality of nearly two million people every year, and at least one million children die of such diseases each year, leaving as many as 2,100 million people at risk around the world. Mosquitoes are associated with the transmission of malaria, dengue, Japanese encephalitis, filariasis and other viral diseases throughout the globe, apart from being a nuisance insect. Vector control, using agents of chemical origin, continues to be practiced in the control of vector-borne diseases. However, due to some drawbacks including lack of selectivity, environmental contamination, and emergence and spread of vector resistance, development of natural products of plant origin with insecticidal properties have been encouraged in recent years for control of a variety of pest insects and vectors. The work herein is based on activities to determine the efficacies of hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate, acetone and methanol extracts of medicinal plants tested against blood-sucking parasites.