Updated Anopheles mosquitos abundance and distribution in the north-eastern malaria-free area of Argentina

MARINA STEIN; MÍA E. MARTIN; PATRICIA GRACIELA RAMIREZ; EDUARDO G. ETCHEPARE; GRISELDA INES ORIA; GUSTAVO C. ROSSI; JORGE KURUC; ELIZABET L. ESTALLO

ANAIS DA ACADEMIA BRASILEIRA DE CIENCIAS.

ACAD BRASILEIRA DE CIENCIAS

Lugar: Rio de Janeiro; Año: 2023

0001-3765

Malaria is the most important parasitic disease worldwide. In 2019, more than 679,441 cases of malaria were reported in the American region. During this study, Argentina was in malaria pre-elimination autochthonous transmission phase with the aim of being declared as malaria-free country. The aim of this work was to evaluate the influence of remote sensing spectral indices NDVI, NDWI, climatic variables (temperature, relative humidity and precipitation) on the distribution and abundance of Anopheles mosquitoes, in localities with different degrees of anthropogenic disturbance and with previous malaria case records, to provide ecological data on the Anopheles species, in a former malarious area in northeastern of Argentina. Between June 2012 and July 2014, mosquitoes were collected. We collected 535 Anopheles adult mosquitoes. Anopheles strodei s.l. was the most abundant species. The greatest richness, diversity and abundance of species were registered in wild and semi-urban environments. The abundance of Anopheles presented a negative association with relative humidity and mean temperature, but positive with mean maximum temperature. The most important variables determining Anopheles total abundance and distribution were NDWI Index and distance to vegetation. For An. strodei s.l. abundance, we found water land cover with a positive association whereas, NDVI Index was negatively associated.