Altitude and the risk of bites from mosquitoes infected with malaria and filariasis among the Mianmin people of Papua New Guinea

The Mianmin are a mobile population occupying a remote lower montane area at 100–1200 m altitude in the north-western interior of Papua New Guinea (PNG). Major medical problems include malaria and bancroftian filariasis. An entomological survey conducted along an altitudinal transect from 170 to 100...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 1997, Vol.91 (1), p.8-10
Main Authors: Attenborough, R.D., Burkot, T.R., Gardner, D.S.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Altitude
Animals
Anopheles - classification
Anopheles - parasitology
Anopheles koliensis
Anopheles punctulatus
Biological and medical sciences
Cross-Sectional Studies
Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay
Ethnic Groups
filariasis
Human protozoal diseases
Humans
Infectious diseases
Malaria
Medical sciences
Mianmin
Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea - ethnology
Parasitic diseases
Plasmodium falciparum
Plasmodium falciparum - isolation & purification
Plasmodium vivax
Plasmodium vivax - isolation & purification
Protozoal diseases
Topography, Medical
transmission
Tropical medicine
Wuchereria bancrofti
Wuchereria bancrofti - isolation & purification
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Summary:The Mianmin are a mobile population occupying a remote lower montane area at 100–1200 m altitude in the north-western interior of Papua New Guinea (PNG). Major medical problems include malaria and bancroftian filariasis. An entomological survey conducted along an altitudinal transect from 170 to 1000m identified Anopheles koliensis as the predominant malaria vector below 650 m, with A. punctulatus dominating at the higher elevations. Proportions of mosquitoes with malaria circumsporozoite antigens diminished with increasing altitude, as did the proportion of mosquitoes infected with stage 3 larvae of Wuchereria bancrofti. These patterns are consistent with increases in the length of the extrinsic incubation period associated with the lower temperatures found at higher altitudes. Inoculation rates varied less regularly with altitude, owing to local variation in biting rates, but were sufficient even at the higher elevations to maintain a high parasite prevalence in the human population. Results support recent suggestions that the ‘population-sink’ model of the PNG highland fringes needs additionally to consider local variation due to non-altitude-related ecological factors.
ISSN:0035-9203
1878-3503
DOI:10.1016/S0035-9203(97)90373-4