Anopheline mosquitoes and their role for malaria transmission in an endemic area, southern Iran

Abstract

To find the fauna of Anopheles mosquitoes for control implementation in Jiroft, a southern city of Iran with subtropical climate and seasonal malaria transmission. Anopheles specimens from the various mountainous and plain villages in Jiroft area were collected during malaria transmission from 2006 to 2007. Different methods of collection including hand catch, night biting catch using animal and human bait, total catch and shelter pit and larval collection were performed using WHO methods. In total, 365 larvae and 871 adult mosquitoes were colleted and identified using morphological characters and DNA sequence data. Faunistic investigation showed that Anopheles species including Anopheles culicifacies, Anopheles stephensi, Anopheles superpictus (An. superpictus), Anopheles fluviatilis, Anopheles sergenti (An. sergenti), Anopheles pulchrrimus (An. pulchrrimus), Anopheles turkhodi and Anopheles dthali were found in the study area. An. sergenti, An. pulcherrimus and An. superpictus were reported for the first time in Jiroft. It can be concluded that several malaria species can be found in this region. In addition to the fauna, further investigation is required on the ecology and bionomics of Anopheline mosquitoes for the implementation of vector control as well as malariological survey in the region.