Middle East DVEP - Armed Forces Pest Management Board

(gametocytes) of the parasite, male and female gametes unite to form a motile ookinetethat penetrates the mosquito’s stomach wall and encysts on the outer surface of themidgut. Thousands of sporozoites are eventually released, and some of these migrate tothe salivary glands. Infective sporozoites are subsequently injected into a human hostwhen the mosquito takes a blood meal (Figure 2). The time between ingestion ofgametocytes and liberation of sporozoites, ranging from 8 to 35 days, is dependent on thetemperature and the species of Plasmodium. Malaria parasites develop in the mosquitovector most efficiently when ambient air temperatures are between 25 and 30 o C.Parasite development is prolonged during cool seasons and at high altitudes, and mayexceed the life expectancy of the vector. Once infected, mosquitoes remain infective forlife. Vector competence is frequently higher with indigenous strains of malaria. Thisdecreases the likelihood that imported strains from migrants will become established.Vector Ecology Profiles.Worldwide, about 70 species of Anopheles transmit malaria to man, but of these onlyabout 40 are important. The distribution of malaria vectors in the Middle East region iscomplex. Primary malaria vectors are present throughout each country and includeAnopheles maculipennis, An. sacharovi, An. superpictus, An. pharoensis, An. sergentii,and An. arabiensis. Secondary vectors include An. claviger, An. culicifacies, An. d’thali,An. fluviatilis, An. multicolor, An. pulcherrimus, and An. stephensi. However, what arenormally primary vectors in most countries may be secondary vectors in other countries.The reverse may also be true, as is shown in the following list of the geographicdistribution of vectors, where the primary vectors are marked with an asterisk.Mosquitoes reported from the Middle East are listed in Appendix A.1. Vector ecologyprofiles of malaria vectors are summarized in Appendix B.1.Iran and Iraq: An. culicifacies*, An. maculipennis, An. sacharovi* (coastal and inlandareas), An. stephensi* (along the Persian Gulf and in the southeastern provinces), Ansuperpictus (central plateau), An. d’thali, and An. pulcherrimus*.Israel: An. sergentii*, An. superpictus*, An. sacharovi (northern Israel), An. claviger(scarce), and An. pharoensis (scarce).Lebanon: An. sacharovi* and An. sergentii.Oman: An. culicifacies* and An. stephensi.Saudi Arabia: An. arabiensis* (Asir District), An. fluviatilis, An. pharoensis, An.pulcherrimus, An. sergentii* (all areas except the east), An. stephensi* (urban areas,and in the east from Oman to Kuwait), and An. superpictus* (northern areas).Syria: An. claviger*, An. maculipennis, An. pulcherrimus, An. sacharovi, An. sergentii*,and An. superpictus*.Turkey: An. maculipennis, An. sacharovi*, An. sergentii, and An. superpictus.UAE: An. culicifacies and An. stephensi*.Yemen: An. arabiensis*, An. culicifacies, An. pharoensis, and An. sergentii*.68