title: Seasonality, blood feeding behavior, and transmission of Plasmodium falciparum by Anopheles arabiensis after an extended drought in southern Zambia.
abstract: Transmission of Plasmodium falciparum is hyperendemic in southern Zambia. However, no data on the entomologic aspects of malaria transmission have been published from Zambia in more than 25 years. We evaluated seasonal malaria transmission by Anopheles arabiensis and An. funestus s.s. and characterized the blood feeding behavior of An. arabiensis in two village areas. Transmission during the 2004-2005 rainy season was nearly zero because of widespread drought. During 2005-2006, the estimated entomologic inoculation rate values were 1.6 and 18.3 infective bites per person per transmission season in each of the two village areas, respectively. Finally, with a human blood index of 0.923, An. arabiensis was substantially more anthropophilic in our study area than comparable samples of indoor-resting An. arabiensis throughout Africa and was the primary vector responsible for transmission of P. falciparum.
authors.affiliation: The W. Harry Feinstone Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, The Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland 21205, USA. rcmosquito@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Rebekah J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Kent
authors.forename: Philip E
authors.initials: PE
authors.lastname: Thuma
authors.forename: Sungano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mharakurwa
authors.forename: Douglas E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Norris
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000852:Anopheles / Q000235:genetics / Q000469:parasitology*; D004247:DNA / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D007299:Insect Bites and Stings / Q000469:parasitology; D007303:Insect Vectors / Q000469:parasitology*; D016778:Malaria, Falciparum / Q000097:blood / Q000469:parasitology / Q000635:transmission*; D010963:Plasmodium falciparum / Q000254:growth & development*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012424:Rural Population; D012621:Seasons; D015024:Zambia
chemical_list: D004247:DNA