Abstract
We investigated the effects of deforestation on microclimates and sporogonic development of Plasmodium falciparum parasites in Anopheles gambiae mosquitoes in an area of the western Kenyan highland prone to malaria epidemics. An. gambiae mosquitoes were fed with P. falciparum-infected blood through membrane feeders. Fed mosquitoes were placed in houses in forested and deforested areas in a highland area (1,500 m above sea level) and monitored for parasite development. Deforested sites had higher temperatures and relative humidities, and the overall infection rate of mosquitoes was increased compared with that in forested sites. Sporozoites appeared on average 1.1 days earlier in deforested areas. Vectorial capacity was estimated to be 77.7% higher in the deforested site than in the forested site. We showed that deforestation changes microclimates, leading to more rapid sporogonic development of P. falciparum and to a marked increase of malaria risk in the western Kenyan highland.
Highlights
We investigated the effects of deforestation on microclimates and sporogonic development of Plasmodium falciparum parasites in Anopheles gambiae mosquitoes in an area of the western Kenyan highland prone to malaria epidemics
Duration of the sporogonic development of malaria parasites in mosquitoes is an important component of vectorial capacity
Humidity) of houses where mosquitoes normally reside with their parasites and to investigate how these microclimate changes affect the sporogonic development of the malaria parasite within An. gambiae
Summary
We investigated the effects of deforestation on microclimates and sporogonic development of Plasmodium falciparum parasites in Anopheles gambiae mosquitoes in an area of the western Kenyan highland prone to malaria epidemics. Fed mosquitoes were placed in houses in forested and deforested areas in a highland area (1,500 m above sea level) and monitored for parasite development. We showed that deforestation changes microclimates, leading to more rapid sporogonic development of P. falciparum and to a marked increase of malaria risk in the western Kenyan highland. RESEARCH humidity) of houses where mosquitoes normally reside with their parasites and to investigate how these microclimate changes affect the sporogonic development of the malaria parasite within An. gambiae. We hypothesized that land use changes in the highlands alter the microclimatic conditions of vector mosquitoes and their parasites, subsequently enhancing malaria risk in the area
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