Mosquito larval habitats, meteorological factors, and alternatives for vector control in Makkah Al-Mukarramah, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Objective: To characterize mosquito larval habitats and the influence of meteorological factors on their prevalence, and to suggest alternatives for vector control in Makkah Al-Mukarramah.

Methods: A mosquito survey was conducted within the 16 municipalities of Makkah Al-Mukarramah, from November 2022 to October 2023. The characteristics of larval habitats used by all reported species as oviposition sites were determined. Seasonal house, container, and breteau indices were used to determine larval abundance.

Results: 16 Species belonging to five genera [Aedes (3 spp.), Anopheles (3 spp.), Culex (8 spp.), Culiseta (1 sp.), and Lutzia (1 sp.)] were collected. A total of 185 608 potential mosquito larval habitats were surveyed. Of these, 95 853 (67.4%) were Aedes, 45 522 (32%) were Culex, 718 (0.5%) were Anopheles, and 38 (0.03%) were other species; 154 726 (83.4%) were water sources for mosquito larvae, and among these sources, 7 663 (5.0%) were positive for larvae, with 45.9% indoors and 54.1% outdoors. Most of the positive larval habitats were recorded in Al-Shawqiya (1 093, 14.3%), Al-Sharayia (1 003, 13.1%) and Al-Umrah (984, 12.8%). A total of 142131 mosquito larvae and pupae were collected. The majority number of positive residences for all mosquito larvae was observed in January 2023 (1 658, 21.6%).

Conclusions: New appropriate alternatives for vector control are proposed, such as mechanical, biological, and environmental control.

Keywords

Aedes / Culex / Dengue / Surveillance / Flora / Mechanical control / Environmental manipulation / Topology

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest. The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest with Safar Company.

Funding

The authors received no extramural funding for the study.

Patent

The new bird waterer model (Automatic bird water with nozzles,Figure 3Supplementary) has also been registered with the Saudi Authority for Intellectual Property as a patent, request number 43462888, on May 22, 2024.

Authors’ contributions

HB did the designing of the research, guidance of the research work, final editing, and writing and reviewing the manuscript. KH performed data analysis, did the supervision of the research work, and reviewing of the manuscript. OA performed sampling, data collection, and did the supervision of the data analysis. RAS did the overall supervision and guidance of the research work and communicated with the Saudi entities included in the research. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Publisher’s note

The Publisher of the Journal remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Acknowledgments

Our deepest thanks go to Eng. Fawaz A. Al-Sharif, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Safar Company, Makkah, KSA, and their employees for fully supporting and funding this project. We also Deeply appreciate Dr. Rui-De Xue, Executive Director, Anastasia Mosquito Control District, St. Augustine, Florida, USA, for checking the English and making corrections to this manuscript.

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