%D 2004 %0 ARTICLE %T [ Anopheles and malaria transmission in Ambohimena , a village in the Occidental fringe of Madagascar Highlands ] %J Parasite %V 11 ( 1 ) %P 75-82 %A Rajaonarivelo V %A Le Goff %A G Cot %A M Brutus %M pub15071831 %X The anopheline vectors and malaria transmission were investigated in the Middle West of Madagascar , in the village of Ambohimena ( at the altitude of 940 meters ) during two years ( August 1996 to July 1998 ) . This village is located outside the vector control area , where yearly DDT house spraying campaigns have been conducted between 1993 and 1998 . Collection of mosquitoes was mainly based on all night man billing collections ( 650 man-nights ) , pyrethrum spray catches ( 224 bedrooms ) and direct collections in outdoor resting places ( 140 toilets , 61 pigsties , 33 holes , 19 sheds , 79 sisal hedges , 70 cart shelters ) . Blood fed anophelines allowed analysis of the origin of blood with an ELISA method . Presence of circum-sporozoite protein was assessed with another ELISA method . The total number of collected anophelines was 14 , 280 . Two malaria vectors were identified : Anopheles funestus Giles , 1900 and An . arabiensis Patton , 1902 . An . funestus was the most abundant mosquito , especially during the hot rainy season . Two peaks of abundance were observed ( in December and April ) . Endophagic rate ( for mosquitoes aggressive for man ) of 35 . 3% , an endophilic rate ( for resting mosquitoes ) of 78 . 0% and an anthropophilic rate ( for indoor resting mosquitoes ) of 64 . 0% were calculated . The average parity rate was relatively low ( 61 . 2% ) . The Plasmodium falciparum immunological sporozoite rate was 0 . 20% . An . funestus presented a higher vectorial capacity during the first round of rice cultivation ( January ) than during the second round ( April-May ) . An . arabiensis was mostly abundant in December and January at the beginning of the rainy season . This species was exophagic ( endophagic rate = 27 . 5% ) and zoophilic ( anthropophilic rate = 7 . 8% ) . The sporozoitic index was determined as zero ( number of examined mosquitoes = 871 ) . In this village , An . arabiensis presented only marginal importance for malaria transmission . Malaria transmission occurred from December to April . Annual entomological inoculation rate , only due to An . funestus , was 8 . 96 during the first year , and 3 . 17 during the second year . In this area where transmission is moderately stable , we suggest an extension of vector imagocidal control activities up to the western fringes of the Highlands .