title: Anopheles (Kerteszia) cruzii (Diptera: Culicidae) in peridomiciliary area during asymptomatic malaria transmission in the Atlantic Forest: molecular identification of blood-meal sources indicates humans as primary intermediate hosts.
abstract: Anopheles (Kerteszia) cruzii has been implicated as the primary vector of human and simian malarias out of the Brazilian Amazon and specifically in the Atlantic Forest regions. The presence of asymptomatic human cases, parasite-positive wild monkeys and the similarity between the parasites infecting them support the discussion whether these infections can be considered as a zoonosis. Although many aspects of the biology of An. cruzii have already been addressed, studies conducted during outbreaks of malaria transmission, aiming at the analysis of blood feeding and infectivity, are missing in the Atlantic Forest. This study was conducted in the location of Palestina, Juquitiba, where annually the majority of autochthonous human cases are notified in the Atlantic Forest of the state of São Paulo. Peridomiciliary sites were selected for collection of mosquitoes in a perimeter of up to 100 m around the residences of human malaria cases. The mosquitoes were analyzed with the purpose of molecular identification of blood-meal sources and to examine the prevalence of Plasmodium. A total of 13,441 females of An. (Ker.) cruzii were collected. The minimum infection rate was calculated at 0.03% and 0.01%, respectively, for P. vivax and P. malariae and only human blood was detected in the blood-fed mosquitoes analyzed. This data reinforce the hypothesis that asymptomatic human carriers are the main source of anopheline infection in the peridomiciliary area, making the probability of zoonotic transmission less likely to happen.
authors.affiliation: Núcleo de Estudos em Malária, Superintendência de Controle de Endemias/Instituto de Medicina Tropical de São Paulo, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Karin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kirchgatter
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Entomologia Médica, Superintendência de Controle de Endemias, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Rosa Maria
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Tubaki
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Protozoologia, Instituto de Medicina Tropical de São Paulo, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Rosely dos Santos
authors.initials: Rdos S
authors.lastname: Malafronte
authors.affiliation: Laboratórios de Investigação Médica, LIM49, Hospital das Clínicas, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Isabel Cristina
authors.initials: IC
authors.lastname: Alves
authors.affiliation: Núcleo de Estudos em Malária, Superintendência de Controle de Endemias/Instituto de Medicina Tropical de São Paulo, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Giselle Fernandes Maciel de Castro
authors.initials: GF
authors.lastname: Lima
authors.affiliation: Núcleo de Estudos em Malária, Superintendência de Controle de Endemias/Instituto de Medicina Tropical de São Paulo, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Lilian de Oliveira
authors.initials: Lde O
authors.lastname: Guimarães
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Entomologia Médica, Superintendência de Controle de Endemias, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Robson de Almeida
authors.initials: Rde A
authors.lastname: Zampaulo
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Parasitologia, Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas II, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Gerhard
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Wunderlich
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000852:Anopheles / Q000145:classification / Q000502:physiology*; D058345:Asymptomatic Infections; D001769:Blood; D001938:Brazil; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007303:Insect Vectors / Q000145:classification / Q000502:physiology*; D008288:Malaria / Q000635:transmission*; D011156:Population Density; D012621:Seasons; D014197:Trees