Strategies for control of Japanese encephalitis mosquito vectors in the Philippines rice fields
Delas Llagas, L.A.
Southeast Asian Journal of Tropical Medicine and Public Health 20(4): 629-633
1989
ISSN/ISBN: 0125-1562 PMID: 2576968 Document Number: 328040
Japanese encephalitis (JE) has not been considered a priority health problem in the Philippines and has not received serious attention from the health authorities. JE infections have nevertheless been known to occur there since 1954 and unpublished results of US NAMRU-II have shown an association of JE cases with the presence of Culex tritaeniorhynchus during the rainy season where rice fields abound. The present paper first poses a set of cogent questions regarding JE virus vectors, then briefly describes the 4 types of Philippine rice-agroecosystem (upland rainfall farms, lowland rainfall farms, lowland irrigated-fish cultured farms, tidal wetland) and the 4 types of climatic regime which affect them, then gives a few relevant details of rice varieties and growth rates, and finally outlines possible integrated vector control strategies.