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. 2015 Nov 14:14:452.
doi: 10.1186/s12936-015-0947-1.

Contribution of fish farming ponds to the production of immature Anopheles spp. in a malaria-endemic Amazonian town

Izabel Cristina dos Reis  1   2   3 , Cláudia Torres Codeço  4 , Carolin Marlen Degener  5 , Erlei Cassiano Keppeler  6 , Mauro Menezes Muniz  7 , Francisco Geovane Silva de Oliveira  8 , José Joaquin Carvajal Cortês  9   10   11 , Antônio de Freitas Monteiro  12 , Carlos Antônio Albano de Souza  13 , Fernanda Christina Morone Rodrigues  14 , Genilson Rodrigues Maia  15 , Nildimar Alves Honório  16   17
Affiliations

Contribution of fish farming ponds to the production of immature Anopheles spp. in a malaria-endemic Amazonian town

Izabel Cristina dos Reis et al. Malar J. .

Abstract

Background: In the past decade fish farming has become an important economic activity in the Occidental Brazilian Amazon, where the number of new fish farms is rapidly increasing. One of the primary concerns with this phenomenon is the contribution of fishponds to the maintenance and increase of the anopheline mosquito population, and the subsequent increase in human malaria burden. This study reports the results of a 2-year anopheline abundance survey in fishponds and natural water bodies in a malaria-endemic area in northwest Brazil. The objective of this study was to investigate the contribution of natural water bodies (rivers, streams, creeks, ponds, and puddles) and artificial fishponds as breeding sites for Anopheles spp. in Mâncio Lima, Acre and to investigate the effect of limnological and environmental variables on Anopheles spp. larval abundance.

Methods: Natural water bodies and fishponds were sampled at eight different times over 2 years (early, mid and late rainy season, dry season) in the Amazonian town of Mâncio Lima, Acre. Anopheline larvae were collected with an entomological dipper, and physical, chemical and ecological characteristics of each water body were measured. Management practices of fishpond owners were ascertained with a systematic questionnaire.

Results: Fishponds were four times more infested with anopheline larvae than natural water bodies. Electrical conductivity and the distance to the nearest house were both significant inverse predictors of larval abundance in natural water bodies. The density of larvae in fishponds raised with increasing border vegetation. Fishponds owned by different farmers varied in the extent of anopheline larval infestation but ponds owned by the same individual had similar infestation patterns over time. Commercial fishponds were 1.7-times more infested with anopheline larvae compared to fishponds for family use.

Conclusions: These results suggest that fishponds are important breeding sites for anopheline larvae, and that adequate management activities, such as removal of border vegetation could reduce the abundance of mosquito larvae, most importantly Anopheles darlingi.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Maps of the study area. a Brazil and Acre State; b Acre State; grey highlights the municipality of Mâncio Lima while red denotes the location of the study site within Mâncio Lima; c Google Earth satellite map of the study area showing the location and types of water bodies where mosquito larvae were sampled
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Sampling scheme of each of the nine mosquito larvae surveys of natural and artificial water bodies in Mâncio Lima between February 2012 and March 2014
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Temporal pattern of Anopheles spp. larval density (mean number of larvae per dip). a In fishponds sampled during each of the five complete and four fast surveys; b in natural water bodies surveyed only during the five complete surveys
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Anopheles spp. larval density (log-scale) in each fishpond and each complete survey by owner (panel numbers indicate individual owners). Darker dots indicate multiple overlapping fishponds
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
Result of a generalized additive mixed model (GAMM) incorporating a smoothing effect for border vegetation in commercial and non-commercial fishponds
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