Anopheles pseudowillmori is the predominant malaria vector in Motuo County, Tibet Autonomous Region

• Published in: Malaria Journal
• Main Authors: Guo-Qing Zhang, Shui-Sen Zhou, Xue-Zhong Wang, Jia-Yun Pan, Song Wu, Qian Liu, Lin-Hua Tang
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: BMC 2009
• Subjects: Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine; RC955-962; Infectious and parasitic diseases; RC109-216; Arctic; Indian
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1186/1475-2875-8-46; https://doaj.org/article/7e7c2c6534cc4c379f50d5241616a646

Abstract Background Malaria is endemic in Linzhi Prefecture in the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), but the vector for malaria transmission had never been identified. Methods Adult Anopheles spp. were collected in Motuo County, Linzhi Prefecture on the Sino-Indian border in July and August, 2007. Multiplex PCR was adopted for species identification, and a nested PCR approach was used to detect sporozoites in the salivary glands of the mosquitoes. Results 3,675 mosquitoes of the Anopheles maculatus group were collected and processed for species identification. Among them, 3,602 (98.0%) were Anopheles pseudowillmori and 73 (2.0%) were Anopheles willmori . The Plasmodium vivax SSUrDNA fragment was amplified in two of 360 pooled An. pseudowillmori samples. Conclusion The local An. maculatus group comprises the species An. pseudowillmori and An. willmori . Anopheles pseudowillmori is considered the sole malaria vector in Motuo County in Linzhi Prefecture.