title: The association between distance to water pipes and water bodies positive for anopheline mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) in the urban community of Malindi, Kenya.
abstract: The increasing risk of mosquito-borne diseases in African urban environments has been partly attributed to failed planning and resource underdevelopment. Though engineered systems may reduce mosquito proliferation, there are few studies describing this relationship. This study investigates how engineered systems such as roads and piped water systems affect the odds of anopheline immatures (i.e., larvae and pupae) occurring in water bodies located in Malindi, Kenya. Anopheles gambiae s.s. (Giles), An. arabiensis (Patton), and An. merus (Dointz) were identified in urban Malindi, with Anopheles gambiae s.s. being the predominant species identified. The Breslow-Day test was used to explore interactions among independent variables. Logistic regression was used to test whether water bodies positive for anopheline immatures are associated with engineered systems, while controlling for potential confounding and interaction effects associated with urban water body characteristics. Water bodies more than 100 m from water pipes were 13 times more likely to have anopheline immatures present, compared to water bodies that were less than 100 m from water pipes (OR = 13.54, 95% CI: 3.15-58.23). Roads were not significantly associated with water bodies positive for anopheline immatures. Statistical interaction was detected between water body substrate type and distance to water pipes. This study provides insight into how water pipes influence the distribution of water bodies positive with immature anophelines in urban environments.
authors.affiliation: Global Public Health Program, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University of Miami, South Campus, 12500 S. W. 152nd Street, Bldg. A, Miami, FL 33177, USA.
authors.forename: Daniel E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Impoinvil
authors.forename: Joseph
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Keating
authors.forename: Rinku Roy
authors.initials: RR
authors.lastname: Chowdhury
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Duncan
authors.forename: Gabriel
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Cardenas
authors.forename: Sajjad
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ahmad
authors.forename: Charles M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Mbogo
authors.forename: John I
authors.initials: JI
authors.lastname: Githure
authors.forename: John C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Beier
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000852:Anopheles; D005618:Fresh Water; D007303:Insect Vectors; D007630:Kenya; D011156:Population Density; D011159:Population Surveillance; D014881:Water Supply