[Determination of the season of possible malaria transmission by Anopheline mosquitoes in South-Western Bulgaria].
This study was undertaken to determine the duration of the possible malaria transmission season by the local anopheline species in the region of the town of Sandanski, situated in South-Western Bulgaria, where 18 indigenous cases of vivax malaria were recorded in the adjacent-villages in 1995-1996. The present study was conducted in the same villages in 2003 and 2004 during the potential malaria season (April-October) in Bulgaria. A total number of 758 female mosquitoes were captured and examined. The catch comprised Anopheles maculipennis Meigen (95.1%), An. sacharovi Favre (2.4%), and An. claviger Meigen (2.5%). Their physiological age was determined by the ovariolar method using the oil injection technique. The malaria transmission season was estimated to begin on May 10 in 2003 and on June 8 in 2004. In both 2003 and 2004, potentially hazardous females were found in the mosquito population in the mid-June and disappeared in the second decade of September. The beginning of the possible malaria transmission season in the region of the area of the town of Sandanski is considered to be associated with the actual appearance of potentially dangerous females in the local mosquito population. Thus, the duration of this season as determined by the age composition of the mosquito population was shorter than that determined on the basis of the mean diurnal temperatures. A sample seasonal curve of the minimum potentially dangerous physiological age of the female mosquitoes was derived from the climatic data. It is proposed to be used together with the age composition data for estimation of the actual limits of a malaria transmission season.
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D000367:Age Factors; D000818:Animals; D000852:Anopheles / Q000145:classification / Q000254:growth & development; D002031:Bulgaria / Q000453:epidemiology; D017753:Ecosystem; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007303:Insect Vectors / Q000145:classification / Q000254:growth & development; D008288:Malaria / Q000635:transmission*; D009032:Mosquito Control; D011156:Population Density; D012307:Risk Factors; D012621:Seasons