Preferred breeding habitats of Aedes Aegypti (Diptera- Culicidae) Mosquito and its public health implicati ons in Dares Salaam, Tanzania
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Date
2013-11
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
E3 Journals
Abstract
The larval habitats of the mosquito
Aedes aegypti
L (Diptera-Culicidae) were investigated in urban Da
r es
Salaam, using larval traps (old tyres, vegetations,
outdoor water storage containers and flower pots).
The study
was carried out in the four sampling sites namely,
Vingunguti, Julius Nyerere International Airport (J
NIA),
Mbagala and Mkuranga (Vikindu). The aim was to asse
ss the influence of habitat changes in urban Dar es
Salaam (the capital city of the united republic of
Tanzania) on the preferred breeding habitats of
Ae. Aegypti
mosquitoes and its possible public health implicati
ons on the residents of the City.
Aedes aegypti
mosquitoes
bred in all the habitats sampled. Old tyres recorde
d the highest number of
Ae. aegypti
mosquitoes followed by
water storage containers and vegetation. Flower-pot
s habitat was the least preferred, with the lowest
number of
Ae. aegypti
mosquitoes.Other mosquito species belonging to fiv
e genera were also collected and these were
found to live in sympatry with
Ae. aegypti
larvae. Statistical analysis revealed a significan
t difference in species
occurrence in the four larval habitats sampled. The
availability of the habitats to support the breedi
ng of
Ae.
aegypti
mosquito, which are potential vectors of urban yel
low fever, Chikungunya fever, Dengue fever and Rift
Valley Fever Viruses implies that theresidents of D
ar es Salaam City are at risk of mosquito-borne dis
eases
should an outbreak occur. It is therefore important
that, residents of the City are enlightened on env
ironmental
factors that contribute to mosquito breeding and th
at, the Government together with the community inst
itute
proper sanitation measures to reduce mosquito breed
ing habitats.
Description
Keywords
Aedes aegypti , breeding habitats, urbanization, arboviruses, Rif t Valley Fever, Dar es Salaam
Citation
Philbert, A & Ijumba, J.N (2013). Preferred breeding habitats of Aedes aegypti (Diptera-Culicidae) mosquito and its public health implications in Dar es Salaam,Tanzania. Journal of Environmental Research and Management