Ovitrap Surveillance of Aedes Mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) in Selected Areas of Dehradun District, Uttarakhand, India

Abstract

Background Objective Dengue a major public health problem in India is caused mainly by Aedes aegypti and Ae albopictus In Uttarakhand State India there has been a heavy increase in dengue cases in the year 2010 and thereafter in 2011-12 there was a decline Keeping in view a change in climatic scenario i e heavy rainfall during June to September we are expecting more and more cases of dengue this year too Since there is lack of information on the bionomics of the recognized vectors of dengue from this region it has been planned to determine the efficacy of ovitraps in monitoring the distribution and abundance of Aedes species in different urban and suburban areas of district Dehradun Uttarakhand Result As many as 6 species of Aedes viz Aedes aegypti Ae albopictus Ae edwardsi Ae pseudotaeniatus Ae unilineatus and Ae vitattus were collected during the study period Ae aegypti shared highest 37 28 followed by Ae albopictus 33 27 Ae pseudotaeniatus 15 68 and Ae vitattus 8 33 The mixed breeding comprised larvae of Culex Anopheles and some unidentified species and shared least percentage 3 10 In indoor overall mosquito accounts low percentage 18 82 in all three localities as compared to outdoor percentage 19 47 Maximum ovitrap index was encountered from Garhi Cantt 48 75 followed by Karanpur 45 00 and Sahastradhara 43 75 during August 2012 Outdoor indices of area ovitraps index were in the range of 17 30 1 83 to 21 88 2 10 while in indoors the range was 12 30 1 67 to 15 42 1 56 Monthy ovitrap index of the study period ranged from 0 00 to 45 83 Conclusion Ovitraps provide a very sensitive and economical method for detecting container breeders when the population density is low A high density of dengue vectors in the residential area warrants the vector surveillance activities in time along with awareness programme