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. 2022 Oct 30:19:e00278.
doi: 10.1016/j.parepi.2022.e00278. eCollection 2022 Nov.

Outdoor and early hour human biting activities of malaria mosquitoes and the suitability of clay pot for outdoor resting mosquito collection in malaria endemic villages of southern Rift Valley, Ethiopia

Tamirat Tomas  1 , Nigatu Eligo  1 , Girum Tamiru  1 , Fekadu Massebo  1
Affiliations

Outdoor and early hour human biting activities of malaria mosquitoes and the suitability of clay pot for outdoor resting mosquito collection in malaria endemic villages of southern Rift Valley, Ethiopia

Tamirat Tomas et al. Parasite Epidemiol Control. .

Abstract

Background: Sampling adult Anopheles mosquitoes is important for assessing vector density, estimating the sporozoite infection rate, and quantifying the impact of vector control interventions. The objective of this study was to assess the Anopheles mosquito species composition, and their outdoor and indoor biting activities, and to evaluate the suitability of clay pots for indoor and outdoor resting mosquito collections.

Methods: Two malaria-endemic villages in the Gamo zone were purposely selected. Forty clay pots were deployed for outdoor resting mosquitoes sampling and another forty for indoor resting sampling. Twenty pit shelters were constructed for outdoor resting mosquito collection. The human landing catch (HLC) technique was employed to collect indoor and outdoor host-seeking mosquitoes in two households in each village. Morphological identification of the Anopheles mosquito was done using an identification key. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay technique was used for blood meal origin and circumsporozoite proteins (CSP) test. Speciation of An. gambiae complex was done using polymerase chain reaction. A Chi-square test was used to compare the effectiveness of clay pot and pit shelters for outdoor resting sampling.

Results: A total of 904 female Anopheles mosquitoes comprising An. gambiae complex, An. pharoensis, An. tenebrosus, An. dencalicus and An. demelloni were sampled. The majority (64%) of them were sampled by the HLC technique. There was a slight difference between the outdoor clay pot (19%) and pit shelter (17%) collection. No Anopheles mosquitoes were collected indoor using clay pots. All mosquitoes were tested for CSPs, but none of them were found to be positive. Anopheles mosquitoes were tending to bite humans outdoor than indoors, and their peak biting hours was 10-11 pm. The human blood meal index of Anopheles mosquitoes was 0.07 from pit shelters and it was 0.04 from clay pots. The bovine blood meal index was 0.45 for mosquitoes from both pit shelters and clay pot collections.

Conclusion: Anopheles arabiensis was the predominant species and it was tending to bite cattle more than humans. Clay pot could be suitable for outdoor resting mosquito collection, but not for indoor resting species.

Keywords: Blood meal index; Clay pot; Human landing catch; Pit shelter.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
The map of Ethiopia, the region, the study districts and villages in Gamo Zone, southwest Ethiopia (GIS version 2.8).
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Construction of pit shelter for outdoor resting mosquito collection under the shade (left) and collecting mosquitoes by closing the mouth of pit shelters by white sheet (right).
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Outdoor (left) and indoor (middle) and collection of resting mosquitoes (right) using clay pots.
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
The monthly distribution of Anopheles arabiensis mosquitoes in malaria endemic villages of southern Rift Valley, Ethiopia.
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
Monthly indoor and outdoor distribution of human biting Anopheles arabiensis in malaria endemic villages of southern Rift Valley, Ethiopia.
Fig. 6
Fig. 6
The overall biting rhythm of An. arabiensis in malaria endemic villages of southern Rift Valley, Ethiopia.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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