Abstract
To identify potential sylvatic, urban and bridge-vectors that can be involved in current or future virus spillover from wild to more urbanised areas, entomological field surveys were conducted in rural, peri-urban and urban areas spanning the rainy and dry seasons in western Cameroon. A total of 2650 mosquitoes belonging to 37 species and eight genera were collected. Mosquito species richness was significantly influenced by the specific combination of the habitat type and the season. The highest species richness was found in the peri-urban area (S = 30, Chao1 = 121 ± 50.63, ACE = 51.97 ± 3.88) during the dry season (S = 28, Chao1 = 64 ± 25.7, ACE = 38.33 ± 3.1). Aedes (Ae.) africanus and Culex (Cx.) moucheti were only found in the rural and peri-urban areas, while Cx. pipiens s.l. and Ae. aegypti were only found in the urban area. Cx. (Culiciomyia) spp., Cx. duttoni and Ae. albopictus were caught in the three habitat types. Importantly, approximately 52% of the mosquito species collected in this study have been implicated in the transmission of diverse arboviruses. This entomological survey provides a catalogue of the different mosquito species that may be involved in the transmission of arboviruses. Further investigations are needed to study the vectorial capacity of each mosquito species in arbovirus transmission.
Highlights
Mosquitoes are vectors of many pathogens that threaten the health of humans and animals worldwide [1,2,3,4,5,6]
About 52% of the total mosquito species, subspecies, and species groups collected in this study have been implicated in the transmission of arboviruses (Table 4)
This study provides an up-to-date catalogue of the Culicidae fauna along a transect of levels of urbanisation and identifies the potential mosquito vectors that may be involved in arbovirus transmission in the West region of Cameroon
Summary
Mosquitoes are vectors of many pathogens that threaten the health of humans and animals worldwide [1,2,3,4,5,6]. Seasonality directly affects larval development and mosquito adult abundance and, indirectly affects disease transmission [8]. Global climate change, increased international travel, deforestation, urbanisation and the large-scale use of pesticides (mostly organochlorines, such as DDT (Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane)). Are the main drivers of vector-borne diseases outbreaks, emergence and re-emergence [3,9,10,11,12,13]. Around 60 examples of linkage between deforestation and land-use changes and increases in mosquito populations and malaria risk were noted by Yasuoka and Levins [17]. In Cameroon, an increase in the prevalence of avian haemosporidian parasites in some bird communities [18], and the abundance of female mosquitoes, following habitat fragmentation has been reported [18,19]
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