Arbovirus Infections In Sarawak: Observations on the Mosquitoes

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Abstract
During an investigation into the etiology of virus encephalitis in Sarawak, mosquito collections were made in a number of selected habitats. In each area sampled, the principal man-biting species have been defined and their abundance has been correlated, so far as possible, with features of the environment. The dominant species varied in each locality, but both Culex tritaeniorhynchus and Aedes albopictus were present in significant numbers everywhere. In a coastal district near Kuching, the capital town, Ae. amesii and Ae. fumidus were dominant and were derived from a nearby Nipa palm zone, while in a pig-rearing area in the suburbs of the town Mansonia annulifera were most abundant, associated with floating lettuce, Pistia stratiotes, in fish ponds. Some kilometers inland, in a relatively isolated Malay village, Ae. curtipes was the principal day-biting mosquito, and at night C. tritaeniorhynchus was most common. Ae. curtipes may have been associated with a small tidal river which flowed through the village (though this has still to be confirmed); C. tritaeniorhynchus was found breeding in ricefields about 1 km from the village. At a small pig farm inland where a pig-baited Magoon trap was operated at night, the main mosquitoes attracted belonged to the Culex group, principally C. gelidus, C. tritaeniorhynchus, and related species. In two secondary forest areas many species were collected. In addition to forest fringe Aedes and Armigeres,C. tritaeniorhynchus (breeding in rice-fields) was common in one of the areas. More than 23,000 mosquitoes belonging to about 80 species were collected from all areas. Most of these were ground up and inoculated into suckling mice in attempts to isolate viruses. Two strains of Tembusu virus were isolated from C. tritaeniorhynchus, and a strain of a virus of the Bunyamwera group was isolated from Ae. curtipes.

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