Abstract
BackgroundDevelopment of large scale agro-industries are subject to serious environmental modifications. In malaria endemic areas this would greatly impact on the transmission paradigm. Two cross-sectional entomological surveys to characterize the Anopheles fauna and their entomological inoculation rates were conducted during May 2010 (peak rainy season) and December 2010 (peak dry season) in the intense rubber cultivated area of Niete in southern forested Cameroon.MethodsMosquitoes were sampled by night collections on human volunteers, identified morphologically and members of the Anopheles gambiae complex further identified to species and molecular form. Parity status was determined following the dissection of the ovaries. Plasmodium falciparum circumsporozoite antigen indices were estimated after the identification of CS antigen by ELISA and the average entomological inoculation rates determined.ResultsA total of 1187 Anopheles was collected, 419 (35.3%) in the rainy season and 768 (64.7%) in the dry season. Species found were the M molecular form of An. gambiae s.s (66.8%), An. ziemanni (28.3%), An. paludis (4.7%), An. smithii (0.2%). An. gambiae M-form was the principal species in the dry (56.2%) and wet (86.2%) seasons. Average overall entomological inoculation rate for the malaria vectors varied between the dry season (1.09 ib/p/n) and the rainy season (2.30 ib/p/n).ConclusionsMalaria transmission in Niete occurs both in the dry and rainy season with the intensities peaking in the dry season. This is unlike previous studies in other areas of southern forested Cameroon where transmission generally peaks in the rainy season. Environmental modifications due to agro-industrial activities might have influenced vector distribution and the dynamics of malaria transmission in this area. This necessitates the possible implementation of control strategies that are related to the eco-geography of the area.
Highlights
Development of large scale agro-industries are subject to serious environmental modifications
Large scale agricultural schemes are subject to serious environmental modifications, which would directly or indirectly impact on the vector species composition, their distribution and the transmission paradigm [1,2,3,4,5]
All of Cameroon is endemic for malaria, the level of endemicity greatly varies between the various eco-epidemiological zones depending on the vector species present and the permissiveness of the environment to support their breeding [6,7,8,9,10,11]
Summary
Development of large scale agro-industries are subject to serious environmental modifications. In malaria endemic areas this would greatly impact on the transmission paradigm. Large scale agricultural schemes are subject to serious environmental modifications, which would directly or indirectly impact on the vector species composition, their distribution and the transmission paradigm [1,2,3,4,5]. All of Cameroon is endemic for malaria, the level of endemicity greatly varies between the various eco-epidemiological zones depending on the vector species present and the permissiveness of the environment to support their breeding [6,7,8,9,10,11]. At least 45 Anopheles species have been reported in Cameroon, 14 of which are implicated in human malaria transmission with varying efficiencies. The major vectors include Anopheles gambiae s.s, An. arabiensis, An. funestus, An. nili and A., moucheti [8,14]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
