Malaria is a serious health problem in the states of Córdoba and Antioquia, Northwestern Colombia, where 64.4%
of total Colombian cases were reported in 2007. Because little entomological information is available in this region,
the aim of this work was to identify the
Anopheles
species composition and natural infectivity of mosquitoes distributed
in seven localities with highest malaria transmission. A total of 1,768
Anopheles mosquitoes were collected using
human landing catches from March 2007-July 2008. Ten species were identified; overall,
Anopheles nuneztovari
s.l.
was the most widespread (62%) and showed the highest average human biting rates. There were six other species
of the
Nyssorhynchus subgenus:
Anopheles albimanus
(11.6%),
Anopheles darlingi
(9.8%),
Anopheles braziliensis
(6.6%),
Anopheles triannulatus
s.l. (3.5%),
Anopheles albitarsis
s.l. and
Anopheles oswaldoi
s.l. at < 1%; and three of
the
Anopheles subgenus:
Anopheles punctimacula
,
Anopheles pseudopunctipennis
s.l. and
Anopheles neomaculipalpus
at < 1% each. Two species from Córdoba,
An. nuneztovari and
An. darlingi, were found to be naturally infected
by
Plasmodium vivax
VK247, as determined by ELISA and confirmed by nested PCR. All species were active indoors
and outdoors. These results provide basic information for targeted vector control strategies in these localities.