背景:冈比亚按蚊在乌干达仍然很普遍,是一种重要的疟疾病媒物种。正在探索控制疟疾病媒的新方法,包括通过减少群体来抑制人口和涉及基因驱动的遗传修饰。设计和评估这些新的干预措施需要对目标载体的生物学有很好的了解。从历史上看,按蚊群在乌干达很难找到,因此特征仍然很差。在这项研究中,我们试图识别和表征An。冈比亚s.l蚊子群在三个研究地点高安。冈比亚在乌干达中部的流行率。
方法:在2年内对三个村庄进行了9次抽样访问。采样针对雨季和旱季,每次旅行期间每个村庄进行2天,使用扫网。使用JMP14软件分析所有群体数据(SAS研究所,Inc.,凯里,NC,美国),适当的参数或非参数。
结果:大部分An.冈比亚s.s.本研究中采样的群是单物种群。然而,一些混合的。冈比亚s.s.和库蚊。还观察到蚊子群。雨季的群体比旱季的群体更大。平均群体高度在离地面2.16m至3.13m之间,仅在村庄之间变化,而不是季节变化。冈比亚按蚊在所有三个村庄都有,更喜欢蜂拥而至裸露的地面标记,并且可以通过现场采样器进行有效采样。
结论:这项研究表明,An.冈比亚s.l群可以有效地在乌干达中南部进行定位和采样,并对迄今为止对An知之甚少的方面进行了深入的描述。冈比亚当地群体特征。在雨季,成群的人靠近有人居住的家庭,并且数量和数量都更大。冈比亚按蚊群与裸露的地面标记显着相关,有时高度超过地面4m,表明有必要开发适合在这些高度进行群体采样的工具。虽然在其他地方已经报道了混合物种群,这是在乌干达发现的第一个有记录的混合属群实例,应进一步研究,因为它可能对存在多种蚊子的群采样探索产生影响。
BACKGROUND: Anopheles gambiae continues to be widespread and an important malaria vector species complex in Uganda. New approaches to malaria vector control are being explored including population suppression through swarm reductions and genetic modification involving gene drives. Designing and evaluating these new interventions require good understanding of the biology of the target vectors. Anopheles mosquito swarms have historically been hard to locate in Uganda and therefore have remained poorly characterized. In this study we sought to identify and characterize An. gambiae s.l mosquito swarms in three study sites of high An. gambiae s.l prevalence within Central Uganda.
METHODS: Nine sampling visits were made to three villages over a 2-year period. Sampling targeted both wet and dry seasons and was done for 2 days per village during each trip, using sweep nets. All swarm data were analysed using the JMP 14 software (SAS Institute, Inc., Cary, NC, USA), parametrically or non-parametrically as appropriate.
RESULTS: Most of the An. gambiae s.s. swarms sampled during this study were single-species swarms. However, some mixed An. gambiae s.s. and Culex spp. mosquito swarms were also observed. Swarms were larger in the wet season than in the dry season. Mean swarm height ranged from 2.16 m to 3.13 m off the ground and only varied between villages but not by season. Anopheles gambiae mosquitoes were present in all three villages, preferred to swarm over bare ground markers, and could be effectively sampled by field samplers.
CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrated that An. gambiae s.l swarms could be effectively located and sampled in South Central Uganda and provided in-depth descriptions of hitherto poorly understood aspects of An. gambiae local swarm characteristics. Swarms were found close to inhabited households and were greater in size and number during the rainy season. Anopheles gambiae s.s swarms were significantly associated with bare ground markers and were sometimes at heights over 4 m above the ground, showing a necessity to develop tools suitable for swarm sampling at these heights. While mixed species swarms have been reported before elsewhere, this is the first documented instance of mixed genus swarms found in Uganda and should be studied further as it could have implications for swarm sampling explorations where multiple species of mosquitoes exist.