Hostname: page-component-669899f699-vbsjw Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-04-27T04:58:53.721Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Influence of indoor microclimate and diet on survival of Anopheles gambiae s.s. (Diptera: Culicidae) in village house conditions in western Kenya

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 February 2007

Bernard A. Okech ,
Louis C. Gouagna ,
Bart G.J. Knols ,
Ephantus W. Kabiru ,
Gerry F. Killeen ,
John C. Beier ,
Guiyun Yan  and
John I. Githure
Bernard A. Okech*
Affiliation:
International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE), PO Box 30772, Nairobi, Kenya Kenya Medical Research Institute, PO Box 54840-00100, Nairobi, Kenya Department of Zoology, Kenyatta University, PO Box 43844, Nairobi, Kenya
Louis C. Gouagna
Affiliation:
International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE), PO Box 30772, Nairobi, Kenya
Bart G.J. Knols
Affiliation:
International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE), PO Box 30772, Nairobi, Kenya
Ephantus W. Kabiru
Affiliation:
International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE), PO Box 30772, Nairobi, Kenya
Gerry F. Killeen
Affiliation:
International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE), PO Box 30772, Nairobi, Kenya
John C. Beier
Affiliation:
Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University of Miami School of Medicine, Miami, FL, 33136, USA
Guiyun Yan
Affiliation:
Department of Biological Sciences, State University of New York, Buffalo, NY, 14260, USA
John I. Githure
Affiliation:
International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE), PO Box 30772, Nairobi, Kenya
*
*Email: [email protected]
Get access

Abstract

The survival of female Anopheles gambiae s.s. mosquitoes inside two village house types (grass-thatched and iron-roofed) was studied in relation to diet and ambient indoor microclimatic conditions. Two batches of 20–30, 1-day-old laboratory-bred mosquitoes were maintained inside cages in the grass-thatched (n=2) and iron-roofed (n=2) houses and fed daily, one group on 10% glucose and the other on human blood. Throughout the experiments, indoor temperature and relative humidity of the houses were recorded, and mortality of mosquitoes monitored daily until all had died. The experiments were replicated thrice. There was no significant variation in the overall mean temperature (P=0.93) or relative humidity profiles (P=0.099) between the two house types, although the iron-roofed houses recorded higher temperature peaks. A Kaplan–Meier survival analysis showed that the mean survival times of mosquitoes were 8 and 10 days in the two grass-thatched huts and 7 and 10 days in the two iron-roof houses for mosquitoes feeding on blood and sugar meals, respectively. The mean survival times of mosquitoes maintained inside similar house types differed only due to diet. In the proportionality of hazards model (Cox regression), the dietary regimes significantly influenced the probability of survival (P=0.0001), with mosquitoes surviving longer on sugar meals than on blood. Microclimatic factors inside houses also significantly influenced mosquito survival. Although higher peak temperatures were recorded in corrugated iron-roofed houses, the survival of the mosquitoes resting in them did not differ significantly from that in grass-thatched houses. However, the impact of these temperatures on the development of malaria parasites inside the vector needs to be investigated.

Keywords

mosquitoindoor survivalhouse construction materialAnopheles gambiaeindoor microclimatewestern Kenya
Type
Research Article
Information
International Journal of Tropical Insect Science , Volume 24 , Issue 3 , September 2004 , pp. 207 - 212
Copyright
Copyright © ICIPE 2004

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Beier, J. C. (1996) Frequent blood-feeding and restrictive sugar-feeding behavior enhance the malaria vector potential of Anopheles gambiae s.l. and An. funestus (Diptera: Culicidae) in western Kenya. J. Med. Entomol. 33, 613–618.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Benedict, M. Q. (1997) In Molecular Biology of Insect Disease Vectors: A Methods Manual (Edited by Crampton, J. M., Beard, C. B. and Louis, C.) Chapman and Hall.Google Scholar
Briegel, H., Horler, E. (1993) Multiple blood meals as a reproductive strategy in Anopheles (Diptera: Culicidae). J. Med. Entomol. 30, 975–985.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Clements, A. N. (1963) The Physiology of Mosquitoes. Macmillan, New York.Google Scholar
Coluzzi, M. (1984) Heterogeneities of malaria vectorial system in the tropical Africa and their significance in malaria epidemiology and control. Bull. W.H.O. 62, 107–113.Google ScholarPubMed
Copeland, R. S. (1994) Anopheles mosquitoes: parasite vector interactions, host vector interactions and population management. In Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Tropical Entomology (Edited by Saini, R. K.). Nairobi, Kenya.Google Scholar
Craig, M. H., Snow, R. W., le Sueur, D. (1999) A climate-based distribution model of malaria transmission in sub-Saharan Africa. Parasitol. Today 15, 105–111.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gamage-Mendis, A. C., Carter, R., Mendis, C. De, Zoysa, A. P., Herath, P. R., Mendis, K. N. (1991) Clustering of malaria infections within an endemic population: risk of malaria associated with the type of housing construction. Am. J. Trop. Med. Hyg. 45, 77–85.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Githeko, A. K., Service, M. W., Mbogo, C. M., Atieli, F. K., Juma, F. O. (1994) Origin of blood meals in indoor and outdoor resting malaria vectors in western Kenya. Acta Trop. 58, 307–316.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lindsay, S. W., Snow, R. W. (1988) The trouble with eaves; house entry by vectors of malaria. Trans. R. Soc. Trop. Med. Hyg. 82, 645–646.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Minakawa, N., Githure, J. I., Beier, J. C., Yan, G. (2001) Anopheline mosquito survival strategies during the dry period in western Kenya. J. Med. Entomol. 38, 388–392.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Minakawa, N., Mutero, C. M., Githure, J. I., Beier, J. C., Yan, G. (1999) Spatial distribution and habitat characterization of anopheline mosquito larvae in Western Kenya. Am. J. Trop. Med. Hyg. 61, 1010–1016.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Minakawa, N., Seda, P., Yan, G. (2002) Influence of host and larval habitat distribution on the abundance of African malaria vectors in western Kenya. Am. J. Trop. Med. Hyg. 67, 32–38.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mutero, C. M., Ouma, J. H., Agak, B. K., Wanderi, J. A., Copeland, R. S. (1998) Malaria prevalence and use of self-protection measures against mosquitoes in Suba District, Kenya. East Afr. Med. J. 75, 11–15.Google ScholarPubMed
Okech, B. A., Gouagna, L. C., Killeen, G. F., Knols, B. G., Kabiru, E. W., Beier, J. C., Yan, G., Githure, J. I. (2003) Influence of sugar availability and indoor microclimate on survival of Anopheles gambiae (Diptera: Culicidae) under semifield conditions in western Kenya. J. Med. Entomol. 40, 657–663.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Omer, S. M., Cloudsley-Thompson, J. L. (1970) Survival of female Anopheles gambiae Giles through nine month dry season in Sudan. Bull. WHO 42, 319–330.Google Scholar
Ribeiro, J. M. C., Seulu, F., Abose, T., Kidane, G., Teklehaimanot, A. (1996) Temporal and spatial distribution of anopheline mosquitoes in an Ethiopian village: implications for malaria control strategies. Bull. WHO 74, 299–305.Google Scholar
Service, M. W. (1973) Identification of predators of Anopheles gambiae resting in huts, by the precipitin test. Trans. R. Soc. Trop. Med. Hyg. 67, 33–44.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Shililu, J., Mbogo, C., Mutero, C., Gunter, J., Swalm, C., Regens, J., Keating, J., Yan, G., Githure, J., Beier, J. (2003) Spatial distribution of Anopheles gambiae and Anopheles funestus and malaria transmission in Suba District, western Kenya. Insect Sci. Applic. 23, 187–196.Google Scholar
Smith, T., Charlwood, J. D., Takken, W., Tanner, M., Spiegelhalter, D. J. (1995) Mapping densities of malaria vectors within a single village. Acta Trop. 59, 1–18.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
White, G. B. (1974) Anopheles gambiae complex and disease transmission in Africa. Trans. R. Soc. Trop. Med. Hyg. 68, 278–301.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed