High annual and seasonal variations in malaria transmission by anophelines and vector species composition in Dielmo, a holoendemic area in Senegal

We conducted a three-year entomologic study in Dielmo, a village of 250 inhabitants in a holoendemic area for malaria in Senegal. Anophelines were captured on human bait and by pyrethrum spray collections. The mosquitoes belonging to the Anopheles gambiae complex were identified using the polymerase chain reaction. Malaria vectors captured were An funestus, An. arabiensis, and An. gambiae. Anopheles funestus was the most abundant mosquito captured the first year, An. arabiensis in the following years. The annual entomologic inoculation rates calculated by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay were 238, 89, and 150 for the first, second, and third years, respectively. Each year there was a peak of transmission at the end of the rainy season, but transmission occurred year round. The heterogeneity of transmission was found at four different levels: 1) the relative vector proportion according to the place and method of capture, 2) the human biting rate and relative proportion of vectors by month and year, 3) the infection rate of each vector by year, and 4) the number of infected bites for all vectors, and for each species, for the year. Our data show that even in areas of intense and perennial transmission, there exist large longitudinal variations and strong heterogeneity in entomologic parameters of malaria transmission. It is important to take these into account for the study of the variations in clinical and biological parameters of human malaria, and to evaluate this relationship, a very thorough investigation of transmission is necessary.