A survey in Cameroon compared the usefulness of the circumsporozoite protein enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (CSP ELISA) to dissection and microscopic examination of anopheline salivary glands for measuring infectivity rates in anopheline mosquitoes. The salivary glands of 375 females, belonging to four species were examined for sporozoites. After microscopic examination, the glands as well as all the remaining heads and thoraces were tested by ELISA. The sensitivity of ELISA was 100% (18/18), confidence interval (CI) (78.1–100) and the specificity was 99.7% (357/358), CI (98.2–100). The Kappa value, agreement between examination of the glands and salivary gland ELISA, was 0.97. The head–thorax CSP ELISA overestimated the true salivary gland infection rate by 12.0%. The results obtained in Central Africa in a village with perennial transmission highly justified the use of the ELISA for measuring the entomological inoculation rate.