Avian Plasmodium infection in field-collected mosquitoes during 2012-2013 in Tarlac, Philippines.

Global warming threatens to increase the spread and prevalence of mosquito-transmitted diseases. Certain pathogens may be carried by migratory birds and transmitted to local mosquito populations. Mosquitoes were collected in the northern Philippines during bird migration seasons to detect avian malaria parasites as well as for the identification of potential vector species and the estimation of infections among local mosquito populations. We used the nested PCR to detect the avian malaria species. Culex vishnui (47.6%) was the most abundant species collected and Cx. tritaeniorhynchus (13.8%) was the second most abundant. Avian Plasmodium parasites were found in eight mosquito species, for which the infection rates were between 0.5% and 6.2%. The six Plasmodium genetic lineages found in this study included P. juxtanucleare -GALLUS02, Tacy7 (Donana04), CXBIT01, Plasmodium species LIN2 New Zealand, and two unclassified lineages. The potential mosquito vectors for avian Plasmodium parasites in the Philippines were Cq. crassipes, Cx. fuscocephala, Cx. quinquefasciatus, Cx. sitiens, Cx. vishnui, and Ma. Uniformis; two major genetic lineages, P. juxtanucleare and Tacy7, were identified.

Aedes survey of selected public hospitals admitting dengue patients in Metro Manila, Philippines.

Entomological investigations were carried out in five selected public hospitals admitting dengue patientsin Metro Manila, Philippines. The results revealed the presence of only one species, i.e. Aedes aegypti,mostly breeding in fresh water plant vases, drums, basins, plastic cups, tin cans, and empty paint cans.The water plant vase/bowl was found to be the most preferred container for Ae. aegypti breeding. The percentage positive rates of fresh water plant vases of the five public hospitals were: RMC (40.69%),TMC (76.62%), SLH (80.60%), NCH (64.06%), and EAMC (40.40%). An analysis of data revealed thatthe Premise, Container, and Breteau indices varied from 0.0 to 4.0, 0.0 to 41.1 and 0.0 to 11.0respectively, indicating thereby the high receptivity of the area to DF/DHF transmission. The egg densityranged from 0.0 to 48.5 which showed the presence of Ae. aegypti vector in the five public hospitals. The presence of productive breeding sites indoors and outdoors in the study area revealed that outbreaks could possibly occur in the future if no vector control plan is adopted and implemented.

Entomological survey of dengue vectors as basis for developing vector control measures in Barangay Poblacion, Muntinlupa City, Philippines, 2008.

An entomological survey of dengue vectors was carried out in Barangay Poblacion Muntinlupa City in Philippines. The survey revealed the presence of only one Aedes species, i.e. Aedes aegypti. The HouseIndex (HI), Container Index (CI) and Bretaeu Index (BI) were estimated as 23%, 23.4% and 63 respectively.Drums, used tyres and soft-drink cases were the major breeding habitats. Although communities kept the water storage containers covered, but this failed to prevent the breeding.