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Am. J. Trop. Med. Hyg., 79(6), 2008, pp. 876-880
Copyright © 2008 by The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene

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Increased Endophily by the Malaria Vector Anopheles arabiensis in Southern Zambia and Identification of Digested Blood Meals

Christen M. Fornadel* AND Douglas E. Norris
The W. Harry Feinstone Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, The Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland

An increase in Anopheles arabiensis showing endophilic behavior was observed in Macha, Zambia during March 2007. To determine whether this shift in resting behavior was accompanied by a change in feeding preference, an attempt was made to calculate the human blood index. However, only 46.2% of blood meals were successfully identified with existing polymerase chain reaction (PCR) diagnostics. This failure was hypothesized to be caused by the limitations of existing methods that are not capable of identifying host source from anophelines resting for extended time periods. Using an assay we developed that allows for the identification of mammalian host DNA out to 60 hours post-feeding, we were able to successfully determine the host source of 94.3% of recovered blood meals. The data show that, although An. arabiensis in Macha experienced a period of higher endophily, the degree of anthropophily and the sporozoite rate in the population remained comparable to the previous malaria season.

Received May 9, 2008. Accepted for publication September 5, 2008.

Acknowledgments: The authors thank Shadrack Habbanti and Harry Hamapumbu for time and effort spent coordinating field team operations in Zambia. We also thank Haggard Mushutila, Winna Muchimba, Fines Mwaanga, Malony Mulota, Fidelis Chanda, Guide Hansumo, and Cliff Singanga for collecting mosquitoes and Musapa Mulenga for managing our collections in Macha.

Financial support: This research was supported in part by funding to DEN from the Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute and a Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Sommer Scholarship award to CMF.

* Address correspondence to Christen M. Fornadel, The W. Harry Feinstone Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 615 N. Wolfe St., Baltimore, MD 21205. E-mail: cfornade{at}jhsph.edu

Authors’ addresses: Christen M. Fornadel and Douglas E. Norris, The W. Harry Feinstone Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 615 N. Wolfe St., Baltimore, MD 21205, Tel: 410-614-2710, Fax: 410-955-0105, E-mails: cfornade{at}jhsph.edu and dnorris{at}jhsph.edu.






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