Vantaux A. auteur aut IRD Yao F. auteur aut IRD Domonbabele F. auteur aut IRD Guissou E. auteur aut IRD Yameogo B.K. auteur aut IRD Gouagna Louis-Clément auteur aut IRD Fontenille Didier auteur aut IRD Renaud F. auteur aut IRD Simard Frédéric auteur aut IRD Costantini Carlo auteur aut IRD Thomas F. auteur aut IRD Mouline Karine auteur aut IRD Roche Benjamin auteur aut IRD Cohuet Anna auteur aut IRD Dabiré K.R. auteur aut IRD Lefèvre T. auteur aut IRD text journalArticle eng text/pdf reformatted digital access Whether the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum can manipulate mosquito host choice in ways that enhance parasite transmission toward humans is unknown. We assessed the influence of P. falciparum on the blood-feeding behaviour of three of its major vectors (Anopheles coluzzii, An. gambiae and An. arabiensis) in Burkina Faso. Host preference assays using odour-baited traps revealed no effect of infection on mosquito long-range anthropophily. However, the identification of the blood meal origin of mosquitoes showed that females carrying sporozoites, the mature transmissible stage of the parasite, displayed a 24% increase in anthropophagy compared to both females harbouring oocysts, the parasite immature stage, and uninfected individuals. Using a mathematical model, we further showed that this increased anthropophagy in infectious females resulted in a 250% increase in parasite transmission potential, everything else being equal. This important epidemiological consequence highlights the importance of vector control tools targeting infectious females. specialized BURKINA FASO 052ANOPAL04 052ANOPAL03 1 e13 [37 ] 2021 2804-3871 https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010092299 10.24072/pcjournal.13 2804-3871 [F B010092299] https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010092299 https://horizon.documentation.ird.fr/exl-doc/pleins_textes/2024-11/010092299.pdf IRD - Base Horizon / Pleins textes 2024-11-04 2025-12-08 fdi:010092299 fre