environmental factors associated with the distribution of anopheles gambiae s.s in ghana; an important vector of lymphatic filariasis and malaria环境因素与冈比亚疟蚊的分布有关。.pdfVIP

Environmental Factors Associated with the Distribution of Anopheles gambiae s.s in Ghana; an Important Vector of Lymphatic Filariasis and Malaria 1,2 3 2 1 1 Dziedzom de Souza , Louise Kelly-Hope , Bernard Lawson , Michael Wilson , Daniel Boakye * 1 Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, University of Ghana, Legon-Accra, Ghana, 2 Department of Theoretical and Applied Biology, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana, 3 Centre for Neglected Tropical Diseases, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, United Kingdom Abstract Anopheles gambiae s.s mosquitoes are important vectors of lymphatic filariasis (LF) and malaria in Ghana. To better understand their ecological aspects and influence on disease transmission, we examined the spatial distribution of the An. gambiae (M and S) molecular forms and associated environmental factors, and determined their relationship with disease prevalence. Published and current data available on the An. gambiae species in Ghana were collected in a database for analysis, and the study sites were georeferenced and mapped. Using the An. gambiae s.s sites, environmental data were derived from climate, vegetation and remote-sensed satellite sources, and disease prevalence data from existing LF and malaria maps in the literature. The data showed that An. gambiae M and S forms were sympatric in most locations. However, the S form predominated in the central region, while the M form predominated in the northern and coastal savanna regions. Bivariate and multiple regression analyses identified temperature as a key factor distinguishing their distributions. An. gambiae M was sig