No scalable tool exists to map and treat the thousands of mosquito breeding sites in African cities

Larval source management (LSM), the identification and treatment or elimination of mosquito breeding sites, is one of the few vector control approaches that works against outdoor-biting mosquitoes, Anopheles stephensi, and insecticide-resistant populations. But in rapidly growing, unplanned African cities, there are thousands of potential breeding sites: open drains, construction puddles, water storage containers, tire dumps, and flooded foundations, with over 90% found within 10 meters of human dwellings. There is no scalable, affordable system for mapping, tracking, and scheduling treatment of these sites. This matters because without systematic LSM, cities remain defenseless against the growing threat of urban malaria, particularly from An. stephensi. LLINs and IRS are insufficient for urban exophilic vectors, so LSM is the only remaining lever, but it requires near-complete coverage to be effective: missing even 20% of breeding sites can sustain transmission. The problem persists because LSM requires continuous, labor-intensive surveillance. Breeding sites are ephemeral, appearing and disappearing with rainfall, construction activity, and waste dumping. Paper-based tracking systems cannot keep up. Pilot digital tools like the Zzapp system (GPS-based mobile app with online dashboard) have shown promise in Sao Tome and Principe, but scaling from a small island to cities like Lagos, Dar es Salaam, or Addis Ababa with millions of residents and tens of thousands of breeding sites remains unsolved. Municipal governments in malaria-endemic countries have no budget line for LSM, and the WHO has historically deprioritized it relative to LLINs and IRS.