SummarySeven village units endemic for ®lariasis were assigned randomly into three arms with different intervention strategies in the years 1995 and 1996. Villages in Group A received two annual mass drug administrations (MDAs) of diethylcarbamazine (DEC) plus ivermectin (IVR
Diurnally subperiodic filariasis due to Wuchereria bancrofti has been reported from tribal populations in the Nancowry group of islands in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India. This was confirmed in a survey carried out during the monsoon season in 1993. Microfilariae were detected in the peripheral blood throughout a 24 h period with a peak at 18:00. The microfilaria (mf) rate ranged from 1.2% to 18.7%, with a low disease rate (mean = 1.9%). Incidence of mf was low in children less than 10 years old (3.5%), but increased with increasing age. Culex (Culex) quinquefasciatus was present at a very low density. Aedes (Finlaya) niveus and Aedes (Stegomyia) malayensis were the only species commonly biting man. The former was incriminated as a vector, and found naturally infected with W. bancrofti (infection and infectivity rates 1.1% and 0.9% respectively). After experimental feeding on donors, W. bancrofti developed to L3 stage larvae in A. niveus but failed to develop in A. malayensis and A. aegypti.
A study was undertaken in villages endemic for Japanese encephalitis (JE) in Kerala in southern India during the period 1998-2001 to determine the host-feeding pattern of Culex tritaeniorhynchus, the major vector of JE in southeast Asia. A total of 3,067 blood-engorged Cx. tritaeniorhynchus were tested and 2,553 (82.2%) of the samples could be identified. Culex tritaeniorhynchus had fed mainly (56.6%) on cattle. Pig feeding accounted 6.3% of the total samples. Some samples (n = 980, 38.3%) were of serologic mixed origin. Of 980 mixed blood-fed mosquitoes, 975 (99.5%) had imbibed blood from two distinct hosts and 5 (0.5%) imbibed blood from three distinct hosts. Mixed blood meals were mostly (96.7%) from cattle and goats. The epidemiologic implications of multiple feeding of Cx. tritaeniorhynchus on dampening (dead-end) hosts such as cattle and goats in the transmission of JE virus is discussed.
Culex quinquefasciatus and Mansonia annulifera are abundant in the rural areas of Kuttanadu, Kerala, India. Bloodmeal identification for individuals of these species collected in this region was determined by the agar-gel precipitin test. A total of 2,328 blood smears from Cx. quinquefasciatus (1,148) and Ma. annulifera (1,180) was tested. Results showed that Cx. quinquefasciatus and Ma. annulifera were highly anthropophilic and that human feeding accounted for 74 and 66% of the total bloodmeals tested. Feeding on cattle accounted for only 1.5 and 2.1% of Cx. quinquefasciatus and Ma. annulifera bloodmeals, respectively. This study showed the high anthropophilic feeding rates of Cx. quinquefasciatus and Ma. annulifera collected from an endemic belt of Malayan filariasis, where epidemiological studies revealed the coexistence of Bancroftian and Malayan filariasis.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.