Determination of the human blood index of some anopheline mosquitos by using ELISA

Abstract

To determine the human blood index, 1253 anopheline mosquitos collected from Arbaminch, Awassa, Metahara and Ziway were tested by the blood meal ELISA, based on anti-human IgG. Higher positivity for human blood were observed in anopheline mosquitos collected from mixed dwellings (range, 26-92%) while those from animal shelters had the lowest positivity (range, 9-48%). The human blood index for A. arabiensis, a principal malaria vector in most parts of the country, from mixed dwelling collections was 88% while it was 43% for those collected from animal shelters. For A. pharoensis, it was 84% and 9%, and for A. coustani, it was 26% and 15% for the respective sites of collection. The human blood index of A. marshalli was 40%; for A. demeilloni, it was 36%; and for A. christyi, 91% for collections from mixed dwellings, while 35% for A. tenebrosus was determined for those collected from animal shelters. Out of the 15 A. funestus and the 11 A. longipalpis tested, 13 and 8 were positive for human blood, respectively. As the feeding and resting preference of the mosquitos varied, malaria control measures must be based on integrated measures in order to reduce man-mosquito contact.