• Main Authors: Yasmin Rubio-Palis, Mariapia Bevilacqua, Domingo Alberto Medina, Jorge Ernesto Moreno, Lya Cárdenas, Víctor Sánchez, Yarys Estrada, William Anaya, Ángela Martínez
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Ministério da Saúde 2013-04-01
• Series: Memórias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz.
• Subjects: deforestation; Anopheles darlingi; entomological inoculation rate
• Online Access: http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0074-02762013000200220

To explore the effects of deforestation and resulting differences in vegetation and land cover on entomological parameters, such as anopheline species composition, abundance, biting rate, parity and entomological inoculation rate (EIR), three villages were selected in the Lower Caura River Basin, state of Bolívar, Venezuela. All-night mosquito collections were conducted between March 2008-January 2009 using CDC light traps and Mosquito Magnet(r) Liberty Plus. Human landing catches were performed between 06:00 pm-10:00 pm, when anophelines were most active. Four types of vegetation were identified. The Annual Parasite Index was not correlated with the type of vegetation. The least abundantly forested village had the highest anopheline abundance, biting rate and species diversity. Anopheles darlingi and Anopheles nuneztovari were the most abundant species and were collected in all three villages. Both species showed unique biting cycles. The more abundantly forested village of El Palmar reported the highest EIR. The results confirmed previous observations that the impacts of deforestation and resulting changes in vegetation cover on malaria transmission are complex and vary locally.