Vol. 11, Issue 5, Part A (2024)

An entomological survey was conducted (April to June) to determine the malaria vector species composition, relative abundance and distribution in Kura L.G.A, of Kano State, Nigeria. Adult mosquitoes from 10 randomly selected residential houses (5 brick and 5 Mud structure) were collected using Pyrethrum Spray Catch (PSC) and two houses were used for Centre for Disease Control Light Trap (CDC LT) methods. A total of 5322 Anopheles belonging to five different species were identified. 4565 Anopheles mosquito species were collected by CDC LT method. Out of this, 4411 (96.6%) were Anopheles gambiae S.L, 143 (3.1%) were An. pharoensis, 7 (0.2%) were An. coustani, 3 (0.06%) were An. funestus and 2 (0.04%) were An. rufipes. A total of 755 Anopheles mosquitoes collected by PSC were all found to be Anopheles gambiae S.L. Out of this 568 (75%) An. gambiae S.L were collected from mud houses while 189 An. gambiae S.L were collected from brick houses. An. gambiae S.L. were the most abundant mosquitoes over other species. There is significant difference between Anopheles mosquitoes in relation to house type in the month of April as the significant level (0.000) is less than p-value (0.05) while in May and June there is no significant difference as the significant level (0.143 and 0.560 respectively) were found to be greater than the p-value (0.05). Comparing the two collection methods used, a greater number were collected using CDC LT (4565) than with Pyrethrum spray sheet (757). The highest number of mosquito collections occurred in May 2723 (60%) and the least number was collected in June 748 (16%). Therefore, An. gambiae S.L acts as major malaria vector (at Imawa community), followed by An. pharoensis, An. funestus, An. coustani and An. rufipes which acts as minor malaria vector in the community. Conclusively, CDC LT was found to be the more efficient collection method than PSC as the maximum number of Anopheles mosquitoes were collected in May than in April following the onset of rainfall which tends to create more breeding sites that in turn increase mosquito population, longevity and hence increase malaria transmission.