On April 25th, 2025, CRID commemorated World Malaria Day by giving the opportunity to office staff to visit the institution’s laboratories and insectary to learn about researchers’ daily work.
Bygaelle Yomi showing a water bath to visitors
Every year on April 25th, World Malaria Day serves as a global rallying point in the fight against one of the world’s most enduring health challenge. This year, it was celebrated under the theme “Malaria ends with us: Reinvest, Reimagine, Reignite”. To mark this day, the Centre for Research in Infectious Diseases set itself the challenge of turning every member of its administration into an ambassador. More than thirty staff members participated in an immersion into research activities through a visit to the CRID insectarium and laboratories. Among them were Finance officers, Grant officers, Real estate officers, Drivers and Security guards.
The activity began with a gathering at 9 a.m. with a presentation of the context made by Dr Billy Tene, Research scientist and initiator of this project. Then, the staff present were subdivided into two groups in order to facilitate interaction between participants and guides during the tour. This also created a more engaging experience, as participants visited Laboratory 1, Laboratory 2 and the Insectary.
In the labs, they saw various apparatus and could understand their use, such as Vortex, centrifuge, autoclave, B-Cube… Staff were curious about the presence of many refrigerators, and further more why they carried names of scientists on them. Once in the insectary, participants realized there were three main genius of mosquitoes reared at CRID namely Aedes, Culex and Anopheles mosquitoes. With the help of the guides, they learned how to identify each species, and distinguish between male and female. They were able to observe how mosquito larvae are conditioned and fed until they reach the adult stage, which is used for insecticide testing.
In the insectary, participants learnt how to distinguish between male and female mosquitoes
Overall, the participants were amazed by what they had seen and learnt during the day. Angela Etoua, Finance officer, particularly appreciated visiting the insectary. She says, “It’s interesting to see how quickly a larva can become a mosquito if all the atmospheric conditions are met. Something very strange I learnt is that some mosquitoes are capable of feeding both on human and animal blood. On finishing this tour, I better understand the importance of institutions like CRID in researching ways to improve people’s health”.
Dr Yvan Fotso coordinated the insectary tour. “Administrative staff were very excited. They had so many questions that we could not answer them all within the time frame”, he says. “We were able to deconstruct preconceived ideas and give them scientific knowledge about mosquitoes and malaria. This will enable them to consolidate their understanding of the subject, and they will then be able to speak freely and confidently about what is being done at CRID”, he added. Definitely, the exploration day experience should be renewed and enriched in the years to come.
