title: Spatial association between malaria vector species richness and malaria in Colombia.
abstract: Malaria transmission in Colombia is highly variable in space and time. Using a species distribution model, we mapped potential distribution of five vector species including Anopheles albimanus, Anopheles calderoni, Anopheles darlingi, Anopheles neivai, and Anopheles nuneztovari in five Departments of Colombia where malaria transmission remains problematic. We overlaid the range maps of the five species to reveal areas of sympatry and related per-pixel species richness to mean annual parasite index (API) for 2011-2014 mapped by municipality (n = 287). The relationship between mean number of vector species per municipality and API was evaluated using a Poisson regression, which revealed a highly significant relationship between species richness and API (p = 0 for Wald Chi-Square statistic). The results suggest that areas of relatively high transmission in Colombia typically contain higher number of vector species than areas with unstable transmission and that future elimination strategies should account for vector species richness.
authors.affiliation: Department of Geography and Regional Studies, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL, USA. Electronic address: dofuller@miami.edu.
authors.forename: Douglas O
authors.initials: DO
authors.lastname: Fuller
authors.affiliation: Abess Center for Ecosystem Science and Policy, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL, USA.
authors.forename: Temitope
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Alimi
authors.affiliation: Centro de Investigación Científica Caucaseco, Cali, Colombia.
authors.forename: Socrates
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Herrera
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health Sciences, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA.
authors.forename: John C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Beier
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá, Colombia.
authors.forename: Martha L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Quiñones
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000852:Anopheles / Q000469:parasitology*; D003105:Colombia / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D007303:Insect Vectors / Q000469:parasitology*; D008288:Malaria / Q000635:transmission*