The importance of Anopheles dirus (A. balabacensis) as a vector of malaria in northeast India
Dutta, P.; Bhattacharyya, D.R.; Sharma, C.K.; Dutta, L.P.
Indian Journal of Malariology 26(2): 95-101
1989
ISSN/ISBN: 0367-8326 PMID: 2792474 Document Number: 328538
Anopheles dirus (a member of the A. balabacensis complex) was found to be the commonest of 12 anopheline species, constituting 62.6% of all collected in July and August 1988 in and near the small town of Jairampur in Changlang district of Arunachal Pradesh. Other known malaria vectors found were A. annularis (1.7%) and A. philippinensis (0.9%); A. minimus was not encountered. Collections were made at night using bednet traps in houses (including temporary jungle huts of forest labourers), by CDC light traps in huts and cattle shelters and by sucking tubes (18.00-22.00 h) in a variety of indoor and outdoor sites. Larval surveys confirmed that A. dirus breeds in small, static bodies of water shaded completely or partially by plants in open jungle. The water could be clear or turbid and was sometimes polluted by elephant excreta. Sporozoites were detected in 2 of 176 female A. dirus dissected from suction tube collections and in 5 of 433 from bednet and CDC trap collections, giving an overall sporozoite rate of 0.14%. Blood slides showed that all persons residing in the temporary huts in or near the jungle were infected with Plasmodium falciparum, of which chloroquine-resistant strains were prevalent in the area.