Gonotrophic age structure of mosquitoes in the Culex pipiens complex (Diptera: Culicidae) and possible influences on host meal selection

October 2009

The age structure and mortality rates of Culex pipiens populations are critical to measures of vector capacity since each bloodmeal affords a chance of the female becoming infected. We examine the parous rate (proportion of females that had laid at least one egg boat) at two study sites to determine life-history parameters. Mosquitoes were collected using CO2-baited CDC miniature light...

Author(s): L. O’Connor, J. B. Gingrich, T. Unnasch and H. K. Hassan

Prevalence and risk factors associated with intestinal parasites in a rural community of central Mexico

August 2009

Inhabitants of a rural community in Mexico were analyzed for intestinal parasites, 34% of the 115 people studied were positive by Faust’s technique; stream water was also analyzed for parasites, 4/7 sites were positive and these were located near the natural source of drinking water. A questionnaire with social, health and demographic variables was applied to heads of households in search of associations with...

Author(s): Diego Emiliano Jimenez-Gonzalez, Karina Marquez-Rodriguez, Jose Maria Rodriguez, Xavier Gonzales, Joe Oxford, Roland Sanchez, Simon Kawa-Karasik, Ana Flisser and Pablo Maravilla  

Fluorescence can be used to trace the fate of exogenous micro-organisms inside the alimentary tract of mosquitoes

August 2009

There is a great deal of current research interest in utilising bacteria for the control of intractable arthropod-borne diseases such as dengue. Although there is accumulating evidence that bacterial infection is a promising control strategy, most studies on bacteria-insect interactions lacked useful markers for detecting pathogenesis. This provided the impetus to investigate bacterial infection in the...

Author(s): Tomomitsu Satho, Hamady Dieng, Tetsuya Mizutani, Yuki Eshita, Takeshi Miyata, Parimal Talukder, Nobuhiro Kashige, Abu Hassan Ahmad and Fumio Miake

Prevalence and risk factors associated with faecal shedding of cryptosporidium oocysts in piglets, Kaduna, Nigeria

July 2009

Cryptosporidiosis is predominant in piglets and other young farm animals and the infection can be severe resulting in financial loss to producers. Faecal samples from one hundred and thirty-two piglets were examined for Cryptosporidiumoocysts using formol-ether concentration method and modified Ziehl-Neelsen staining technique. Cryptosporidium oocysts were found in 18(13.6%) of the faecal samples and the...

Author(s): B. V. Maikai, J. U. Umoh, J. K. P. Kwaga, V. A. Maikai and S. C. Egege

Relative abundance of adult female anopheline mosquitoes in Ugah, Nasarawa state, Nigeria

July 2009

A study on the relative abundance of malaria vectors was investigated in Ugah, Nasarawa state, Nigeria between January and December 2004. A total of 2,276 mosquitoes were collected. The mosquitoes comprise three species - Anopheles gambiae sl, Anopheles funestus and Anopheles ardensis. Of the anophelines, Anopheles gambiae sl is the most abundant that is, 1087(47.76%) followed by Anopheles funestus and...

Author(s): Ayanda, Opeyemi Isaac