Establishment of a strain of Anopheles Darlingi and assessment of susceptibility to Plasmodium Cynolmogi and pyrethroid insecticides.

Malaria is an infectious disease of considerable severity, caused by protozoa of the genus Plasmodium, which are transmitted by mosquitoes of the genus Anopheles. In Brazil, five species are considered important within epidemiology, as they are capable of harboring and transmitting the pathogen, they are: Anopheles darlingi, Anopheles aquasalis, Anopheles albitarsis, Anopheles cruzii and Anopheles bellator. An. darlingi being the main vector under natural conditions with the greatest potential to transmit the parasite, as it is highly susceptible to human plasmodia, being considered the most anthropophilic anopheline, enabling the spread of the disease. However, studies involving vector species of plasmodia are scarce, as they usually require a large number of specimens to carry them out, which become unfeasible without maintaining a strain in the laboratory. However, when it comes to carrying out experiments with neotropical anophelines, one of the difficulties encountered is the maintenance of these mosquitoes in lineages, since mating is a limiting factor for the establishment of anophelines in the laboratory, as they are eurigamic species. Recently, the adaptation of a technique that uses LED lamps to induce copulation resulted in the establishment of the first lineage of An. long-lasting darlingi. In practice, the establishment of a lineage of An. darlingi represents the development of experiments and studies that could not be carried out before, given the difficulties of raising this mosquito in the laboratory. The experience of Laboratory of Physiology and Control of Vector Arthropods (Laficave, IOC, Fiocruz) in the establishment and maintenance of lineages of two species of neotropical anophelines, makes it accredited to standardize the creation and establish a lineage of this vector, thus generating a reference lineage which may subsidize studies for new control strategies.

Project details

Vector Control

Jan 2021

Brazil