Susceptibility of Thai zoophilic Anophelines and suspected malaria vectors to local strains of human malaria parasites.

ABSTRACT

Wild caught zoophilic Anopheles and suspected malaria vector species collected in northwest Thailand were experimentally infected with local human malaria parasites using a membrane feeding. One week post-feeding a number of mosquitos were dissected for oocyst examination. The remainder were kept for another one week or more, and then the salivary glands were examined for the presence of sporozoites. The results revealed that An. vagus, An. kochi and An. annularis were susceptible to both Plasmodium falciparum and P. vivax whereas An. barbirostris and An. sinensis were susceptible to only P. vivax. The non-susceptibility to P. falciparum of these two mosquito species may indicate their poor vector status of this malaria species in the field.