Abstract

ZULETA-RUIZ, Boris René; GOMEZ-VARGAS, Wilber; ORTIZ-REYES, Adriana  and  RUIZ-LOPEZ, Freddy. Identification of Anopheles spp. (Diptera: Culicidae) present in endemic areas of malaria transmission in Turbo, Antioquia, and their infection with Plasmodium spp. Actu Biol [online]. 2022, vol.44, n.116, e5.  Epub May 26, 2022. ISSN 0304-3584.  https://doi.org/10.17533/udea.acbi.v44n116a05.

Malaria is a serious public health problem in Colombia, with Plasmodium falciparum and P. vivax as the parasites responsible for 97% of malaria cases. The municipality of Turbo is one of the most affected departments in Antioquia, recording 7076 malaria cases in 2019. The objective was to identify the Anopheles spp. present in endemic areas of malaria transmission in Turbo and to evaluate their natural infection with Plasmodium spp. A total of four samplings were carried out between 2015 and 2016 in both wet and dry seasons each year. The mosquitoes were collected in the intra-domicile and peri-domicile, and on corral animals. In addition, active searches were carried out for immature stages in natural breed sites of water pools. A total of 121 adult mosquitoes were collected, belonging to four species: An. albimanus (n=117), An. triannulatus s.l. (n=1), An. apicimacula s.l. (n=1) and An. pseudopunctipennis s.l. (n=2). Sixty-five larvae belonging to three species were collected by active searches: An. albimanus (n=58), An. triannulatus (n = 1) and An. apicimacula (n=6). None of the specimens collected was found infected naturally with Plasmodium. Anopheles albimanus could be the main malaria vector in the localities studied, due to the high densities found and its vector capacity recorded in Colombia. Possibly, An. Pseudopunctipennis s.l. may play a role in malaria transmission if infected people were present and in areas with high mosquito densities found in this study showed that vector control strategies implemented in 2014-2015 by local health institutions with Bacillus sphaericus and insecticides are proving to be effective.

Keywords : Identification; COI; mosquito; paludismo; vectors.

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