Anopheles pseudowillmori is the predominant malaria vector in Motuo County, Tibet Autonomous Region.

Song Wu,Xue-Zhong Wang,Shui-Sen Zhou,Lin-Hua Tang,Guo-Qing Zhang,Qian Liu,Jia-Yun Pan

doi:10.1186/1475-2875-8-46

Abstract

BackgroundMalaria is endemic in Linzhi Prefecture in the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), but the vector for malaria transmission had never been identified.MethodsAdult Anopheles spp. were collected in Motuo County, Linzhi Prefecture on the Sino-Indian border in July and August, 2007. Multiplex PCR was adopted for species identification, and a nested PCR approach was used to detect sporozoites in the salivary glands of the mosquitoes.Results3,675 mosquitoes of the Anopheles maculatus group were collected and processed for species identification. Among them, 3,602 (98.0%) were Anopheles pseudowillmori and 73 (2.0%) were Anopheles willmori. The Plasmodium vivax SSUrDNA fragment was amplified in two of 360 pooled An. pseudowillmori samples.ConclusionThe local An. maculatus group comprises the species An. pseudowillmori and An. willmori. Anopheles pseudowillmori is considered the sole malaria vector in Motuo County in Linzhi Prefecture.

Highlights

Malaria is endemic in Linzhi Prefecture in the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), but the vector for malaria transmission had never been identified
Most of these infections were attributed to Plasmodium vivax, and 2,441 (99.3%) of the cases originated from Motuo County [1]
Anopheline species complex and species identification During the study period, a total of 5,345 adult anopheline mosquitoes were collected by human-baited net traps (HBNT), Cow-baited traps (CBT) and CDC light traps

Summary

Introduction

Malaria is endemic in Linzhi Prefecture in the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), but the vector for malaria transmission had never been identified. Linzhi Prefecture is located in the south-eastern part of the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) of China. Motuo County in south of Linzhi Prefecture had a total population of 10,019 in 2006 and shares borders with both India and Myanmar. A total of 2,459 malaria cases were reported from Linzhi Prefecture between 1986 and 2004. Most of these infections were attributed to Plasmodium vivax, and 2,441 (99.3%) of the cases originated from Motuo County [1]. In 2005 and 2006, the annual malaria incidence rates (IR) in Motuo County were 56.8 and 69.4 cases per 10,000 persons, respectively. In 2005, a malaria outbreak was reported from Bayi Town out of Motuo County, indicating an increasing malaria threat

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