title: Determination of the human blood index of some anopheline mosquitos by using ELISA.
abstract: To determine the human blood index, 1253 anopheline mosquitos collected from Arbaminch, Awassa, Metahara and Ziway were tested by the blood meal ELISA, based on anti-human IgG. Higher positivity for human blood were observed in anopheline mosquitos collected from mixed dwellings (range, 26-92%) while those from animal shelters had the lowest positivity (range, 9-48%). The human blood index for A. arabiensis, a principal malaria vector in most parts of the country, from mixed dwelling collections was 88% while it was 43% for those collected from animal shelters. For A. pharoensis, it was 84% and 9%, and for A. coustani, it was 26% and 15% for the respective sites of collection. The human blood index of A. marshalli was 40%; for A. demeilloni, it was 36%; and for A. christyi, 91% for collections from mixed dwellings, while 35% for A. tenebrosus was determined for those collected from animal shelters. Out of the 15 A. funestus and the 11 A. longipalpis tested, 13 and 8 were positive for human blood, respectively. As the feeding and resting preference of the mosquitos varied, malaria control measures must be based on integrated measures in order to reduce man-mosquito contact.
authors.affiliation: Ethiopian Health and Nutrition Research Institute, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Adugna
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Petros
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000852:Anopheles / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000145:classification / Q000502:physiology; D001769:Blood; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay / Q000379:methods*; D005002:Ethiopia; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007303:Insect Vectors / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000145:classification / Q000502:physiology; D008288:Malaria / Q000635:transmission; D008297:Male