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Researcher, MSU community take on one of world’s biggest killers

‘Nothing But Nets’ fights malaria in Africa

By Sue Nichols

	Photo by John Gimnig/Centers for Disease Control A family in western Kenya is among those who have benefited from the bed nets bought and distributed by the Nothing But Nets campaign.

MSU has a lot of game when it comes to nets – but nets rarely play such a crucial role both in life-saving research and in raising money to save lives.

MSU scientist Ned Walker is using a $1.7 million grant from the National Science Foundation to lead a research team studying how insecticide-treated bed nets can disrupt the population dynamics of the parasite that causes malaria, as well as the mosquito that transmits the parasite. The scientists will focus on an area of western Kenya.

According to statistics from the World Health Organization, malaria kills about 3,000 children each day in Africa. Research has shown that using bed nets may cut mortality in half.

A microbiology and molecular genetics and entomology researcher, Walker’s research focuses on how infectious diseases are transmitted, especially those that use mosquitoes as a mechanism to spread.

“We’ll be evaluating the effectiveness of the bed nets over the long term,” Walker said. “Malaria has resisted past attempts to control it. But the bed nets have emerged as a powerful and simple control tool. They cost only about $10 apiece. The big question is whether the bed nets will continue to work over time. That’s what we’ll be studying.”

Photo by Mike Dubose/Nothing But Nets Insecticide-treated bed nets will help prevent the spread of malaria.

To join in that fight, MSU has a fundraising team with Nothing But Nets, a grassroots campaign to prevent malaria in Africa. It started with a column Rick Reilly wrote about malaria in Sports Illustrated, challenging each reader to donate at least $10 to buy an anti-malaria bed net. The response from thousands of Americans led to the Nothing But Nets campaign.

The MSU Nothing But Nets team has a goal of $10,000 – that’s 1,000 bed nets. Contributions are tax-deductible and 100 percent of the donations are used to buy and distribute nets.

For more information about the Nothing But Nets campaign, see: www.nothingbutnets.net.