Abstract
BackgroundUnderstanding the ecology of malaria vectors such as species composition and population dynamics is essential for developing cost-effective strategies to control mosquito vector populations.MethodsAdult mosquitoes (n = 79,567) were collected in five villages along the China-Myanmar border from April 2012 to September 2014 using the CDC light trap without bait method. Mosquito community structure, Anopheles species composition and diversity were analyzed.ResultsTwenty species of Anopheles mosquitoes were identified, with An. minimus s.l. accounting for 85 % of the total collections. Mosquito densities varied from 0.05 females per trap per night (f/t/n) to 3.00 f/t/n, with strong seasonality in all sites and densities peaked from June to August. An. minimus s.l. was predominant (accounting for 54–91 % of total captures) in four villages, An. maculatus s.l. was predominant (71 %) in the high elevation village of Dao Nong, and An. culicifacies accounted for 15 % of total captures in the peri-urban area of Simsa Lawk. All 20 species have been captured in the Mung Seng Yang village, 18 and 15 species in Ja Htu Kawng and Na Bang respectively, and nine species in both Simsa Lawk and Dao Nong. Species richness peaked from April to August. Species diversity, species dominance index, and species evenness fluctuated substantially from time to time with no clear seasonality, and varied greatly amongst villages.ConclusionsMosquitoes were abundant in the China-Myanmar bordering agricultural area with clear seasonality. Species composition and density were strongly affected by natural environments. The targeted intervention strategy should be developed and implemented so as to achieve cost-effectiveness for malaria control and elimination along the border areas.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13071-015-1057-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Highlights
Understanding the ecology of malaria vectors such as species composition and population dynamics is essential for developing cost-effective strategies to control mosquito vector populations
Twenty Anopheles species have been identified (Table 1), An. minimus s.l. accounted for 84.6 % of total Anopheles collections
There are more than 20 major malaria vector species in Southeast Asia, which makes vector control extremely difficult because of the complex biology and ecology of the different vectors [29,30,31,32,33,34,35,36,37,38]
Summary
Understanding the ecology of malaria vectors such as species composition and population dynamics is essential for developing cost-effective strategies to control mosquito vector populations. Understanding the species composition and population dynamics of the local mosquitoes is the crucial step for developing and implementing appropriate strategies to control mosquito vector populations and subsequently the mosquito-borne infectious diseases. More than half of the malaria cases and ∼ 75 % of the malaria deaths in the GMS occurred in Myanmar [11] International border regions, such as the one shared by China and Myanmar’s Kachin State, have the highest malaria incidence and the highest malariarelated mortality rate, at 7.8 deaths/1000 people [11,12,13]. A large proportion of ethnic minorities live in these remote, often hilly and forested border areas, which are
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