Abstract
BackgroundThe Anopheles gambiae sensu lato (s.l.) and Anopheles funestus s.l. species complexes contain the most important malaria vectors in Africa. Within the An. funestus group of at least 11 African species, the vector status of all but the nominal species An. funestus appears poorly investigated, although evidence exists that Anopheles rivulorum and Anopheles vaneedeni may play minor roles. A new species, An. rivulorum-like, was described from Burkina Faso in 2000 and subsequently also found in Cameroon and Zambia. This is the first paper reporting the presence of this species in South Africa, thereby significantly extending its known range.MethodsMosquitoes were collected using dry-ice baited net traps and CDC light traps in the Kruger National Park, South Africa. Sixty-four An. funestus s.l. among an overall 844 mosquitoes were captured and identified to species level using the polymerase chain reaction assay. All samples were also analysed for the presence of Plasmodium falciparum circumsporozoite protein using the enzyme-linked-immunosorbent assay.ResultsFour members of the An. funestus group were identified: An. rivulorum-like (n = 49), An. rivulorum (n = 11), Anopheles parensis (n = 2) and Anopheles leesoni (n = 1). One mosquito could not be identified. No evidence of P. falciparum was detected in any of the specimens.ConclusionThis is the first report of An. rivulorum-like south of Zambia, and essentially extends the range of this species from West Africa down to South Africa. Given the continental-scale drive towards malaria elimination and the challenges faced by countries in the elimination phase to understand and resolve residual transmission, efforts should be directed towards determining the largely unknown malaria vector potential of members of the An. funestus group and other potential secondary vectors.
Highlights
The Anopheles gambiae sensu lato (s.l.) and Anopheles funestus s.l. species complexes contain the most important malaria vectors in Africa
The internal transcribed spacer region 2 (ITS2) region of three suspected An. rivulorumlike specimens was amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and produced an amplicon of ~ 550 bp (Fig. 3) which corresponds to the ITS2 region of An. rivulorum
This paper shows that An. rivulorum-like is fairly common in two areas of the Kruger National Park, north-eastern South Africa, where non-targeted, random collections of mosquitoes were made for non-malaria surveillance purposes
Summary
The Anopheles gambiae sensu lato (s.l.) and Anopheles funestus s.l. species complexes contain the most important malaria vectors in Africa. A new species, An. rivulorum-like, was described from Burkina Faso in 2000 and subsequently found in Cameroon and Zambia This is the first paper reporting the presence of this spe‐ cies in South Africa, thereby significantly extending its known range. The most important and widespread vectors of malaria in Africa are members of two species complexes: Anopheles gambiae sensu lato (s.l.) with at least eight sibling species [1], and Anopheles funestus s.l. with 11 African species [2, 3]. Adult members of these two complexes are difficult or impossible to separate morphologically [4,5,6], requiring. Because of the close morphological similarity but very different malaria transmission capacities of these species, it is important to know which occur in a particular area as this influences malaria vector control decisions and operations, vital commitments in all African countries where financial and related malaria control resources are limited
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