Seasonal pattern of Bancroftian Filariasis transmission in Ebonyi State, Nigeria

Bancroftian filariasis in Nigeria is endemic with 22.1% of the population thought to be infected. The main mosquito genera implicated with Wuchereria bancrofti transmission are Anopheles and Culex. The study was carried out to compare the infectivity rates of the vectors between the high transmission (rainy) and the low transmission (dry) seasons. Mosquitoes were sampled from houses and compared from six sentinel villages (3 each from Ohaukwu and Abakiliki Local Government Areas) of Ebonyi State, Nigeria. Day resting indoor collection (DRI) by Aspirator and Pyrethrum Spray Catch (PSC) were used to collect mosquitoes between 7:00 and 11:00am. After morphological identification, female parous mosquitoes were dissected in search for infective (L3) larvae of W. bancrofti. A total of 4,840 female mosquitoes were dissected. More mosquitoes were caught in the rainy season than in the dry season. Infectivity rates of vectors in Ohaukwu villages were 3.54 and 5.41% in the rainy and dry seasons, respectively, whereas in Abakiliki villages these were 1.85 and 1.19%, respectively. There was no significant difference in the overall infectivity rates between the two seasons in both Ohaukwu and Abakiliki villages (p>0.05). Similarly, no significant difference in the total/average transmission potentials were found between the seasons (p>0.05). Anopheles gambiae sl was the main vector in both study sites followed by an Anopheles funestus and Culex quinquefasciatus. There was a difference in infectivity rates of Anopheles species between the wet and dry seasons (p 0.05). Findings were discussed in the context of on-going plans to eliminate filariasis and the transmitting vectors.   Key words: Bancroftian filariasis, rainy season, dry season, Wuchereria bancrofti.