Characterization of Breeding Habitats and Larval Abundance of Malaria Vectors across Selected Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), in Morogoro Region, Tanzania

Mbogo N. Kija^1, , Sharadhuli I. Kimera² and Ladslaus L. Mnyone^{3, 4}

¹Epidemiologist, Department of Public Health, Sokoine University of Agriculture, P.O. Box 3015, Morogoro, Tanzania

²Professor of Veterinary Epidemiology & Infectious Diseases, Sokoine University of Agriculture, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, P.O. Box 3021, Morogoro, Tanzania

³Professor of Entomology, Institute of Pest Management, Sokoine University of Agriculture, P.O. Box 3110, Morogoro, Tanzania

⁴Division of Science, Technology and Innovation, Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, P.O. Box 10, Dodoma, Tanzania

Cite this paper:
Mbogo N. Kija, Sharadhuli I. Kimera and Ladslaus L. Mnyone. Characterization of Breeding Habitats and Larval Abundance of Malaria Vectors across Selected Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), in Morogoro Region, Tanzania. American Journal of Epidemiology and Infectious Disease. 2022; 10(2):50-58. doi: 10.12691/ajeid-10-2-2

Abstract

Mosquitos continue to be insects of global attention for several centuries due to their ability to inhabit a wide range of ecological conditions that enable them to breed in diversified environments. The Anopheles species particularly the female mosquito is the main vector for malaria transmission in human. In Tanzania, for many years the control of malaria transmission is centered on attacking adult mosquitoes lagging behind the immature stages of the vector. Therefore, area- specific identification and characterization of mosquito breeding sites is important towards designing effective vector control measures among potential clusters such as higher education institutions. The study employed a repeated cross-sectional survey for six months (wet and dry season) that ran from March to August 2021. Each season had three months of data collection at an interval of two weeks. Breeding sites characterization, larval sampling, identification and measurements were done on every visit to every site and recorded. Parametric and non-parametric tests were statistically significant to most of indices at p < 0.05. During wet season, 11 072 and 3 620 mosquito larva for Anopheline and Culicine respectively were observed across institutions. For dry season, 1 436 and 880 for Anopheline and Culicine larva respectively observed across institutions. The study revealed multiple positive breeding sites across institutions that pose a great risk of exposure for malaria transmission. Thus, we recommend for intentional measures to be taken at the root grass of mosquito reproduction rather than concentrating on adult mosquitoes only.

Keywords:
malaria breeding sites larval abundance seasonal variation institutions (HEIs)

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