All disease vectors can develop resistance to insecticides which are used to control them. Insecticide resistance can have serious impacts on public health, and examples of resistance to DDT in malaria mosquitoes were recorded as early as 1959 in India. The insecticide acts as an environmental pressure, selecting for populations of insects that have developed a mechanism to survive its toxic action. Frequently, the mechanism(s) conferring resistance to one insecticide also confer resistance to other insecticides (cross resistance). The WHO Pesticide Evaluation Scheme (WHOPES) guidance materials provide and promote information on monitoring of vector susceptibility to pesticides and the adoption of insecticide resistance management principles and tactics to safeguard continued efficacy of public health insecticides for disease vector control (DVC).

The theory of natural selection (part 1) - Are there examples of rapid evolutionary change?

Agricultural Production and Malaria Resurgence in Central America and India

Techniques to Detect Insecticides Resistance Mechanisms (field and laboratory manual), WHO, 1998