1. Both finding of oocyte and sporozoite start with; firstly, the anopheles mosquito will be anesthetized via storing at -20 degree celsius for 5 minutes. After that the legs of anesthetized mosquito will be removed from its body. Then, place the mosquito on the glass slid containing small amounts of water (drop of water). Subsequently, for finding oocysts, the midgut will be collected by using 2 needles to fix the beginning of abdomen and to pull the abdomen segment number 7 out from the segment number 6, respectively. Meanwhile, the observation of sporozoites also require 2 needles for fix the thorax of the mosquito and slowly pull the head. After that the salivary gland with 3 lobes will be collected to observe the sporozoites.
2. Advantage and disadvantage
2.1 Mosquito dissection
Pros: Due to very high specificity, it visualizes the parasite in infected mosquito. This technique can use for epidemiology study and malaria transmission.
Cons: This technique requires fresh samples and requires expertise to manage. Moreover, it is quiet time-consuming because it has to do one by one and in case low prevalence area, it might need a large number of mosquitoes for detection.
2.2 Immunological assay
Pros: This technique shows quite high specificity and sensitivity due to detecting the antigen of parasites. In addition, after sample preparation, the process might not take too long for the detection.
Cons: False positive with crossing-reactivity may be found and it quiet needs expertise. Also it require special reagents and machines to run the detection which comes with higher cost. Additionally, It is not a good choice for the surveillance in field study.
2.3 Molecular technique
Pros: it exhibits very high sensitivity and quite high specificity. The whole process does not take long time to be done and there is no need expertise.
Cons: Reagents (including primers) and machines to run the detection are required which is very pricey. Additionally, It is not a good choice for the surveillance in field study.
3. At the field site study, I would say that the mosquito dissection is the best choice due to high specificity and requirement of handle equipments (microscope, needles and etc). However, I think it is better to add either a molecular technique or an immunological assay to confirm or support the finding. These additional detections base on the research question or objective of the investigation. Due to appropriate sample storage condition, the sample for the assays can be done at the laboratory.