Recent resting habit of adult Phlebotomus argentipes the vector of Visceral leishmaniasis in a kala azar endemic foci of Bihar India Das Chandrima1,5, Raj Shilpa2, Mukhopadhyay A K3,4,* 1Ex Entomological Surveillance Officer, Care India 2Entomological Surveillance Officer. Care India. Bihar 3Ex Joint Director. National Centre for Disease Control Government of India 4Presently: Consultant VL Care India, Bihar 5Presently: District Entomologist, Government of West Bengal *Corresponding author: A K Mukhopadhyay, E-mail: dramukhopadhyay@gmail.com
Online published on 9 January, 2019. Abstract From 1976 to 2014, DDT, and from 2015 till date, alpha cypermethrin insecticide is being sprayed as indoor residual spray up to 1.8 meter i.e 6 feet height in human dwellings as well as in cattle sheds in, India, as a part of Kala-azar elimination programme. This is being a practice out of the belief that Phlebotomus argentipes the vector of kala azar is endophilic in nature and cannot hop beyond 1.8 meters height. Sixteen months study was therefore conducted in three villages in a kala azar endemic block Warisnagar, district Samastipur, Bihar from September 2016 to November 2017 to note the vertical distribution of P.argentipes in indoors and their distribution in outdoors aswell. In all the three study villages, density of adult P.argentipes was found more in Cattle sheds than in human dwellings. Irrespective of IRS and non IRS villages, significant numbers (p value 0.47) of P.argentipes were found above 1.8 meter in CS and HD of which 33.37 percent were blood fed and gravid females. Sizable number of P.argentipes was also found in outdoor peridomestic situations throughout the study period. Therefore it may be the time to evaluate vector control strategies in kala azar endemic areas of Bihar for successful elimination of the disease from India. Top Keywords Distribution of Phlebotomus argentipes in indoor and outdoor. Kala azar endemic villages. Bihar. Top |