TY  - JOUR
AU  - Nikookar, Seyed Hassan
AU  - Maleki, Alireza
AU  - Fazeli-Dinan, Mahmoud
AU  - Shabani Kordshouli, Razieh
AU  - Enayati, Ahmadali
PY  - 2022
DA  - 2022/10/31
TI  - Entomological Surveillance of the Invasive Aedes Species at Higher-Priority Entry Points in Northern Iran: Exploratory Report on a Field Study
JO  - JMIR Public Health Surveill
SP  - e38647
VL  - 8
IS  - 10
KW  - mosquito surveillance
KW  - Aedes
KW  - biodiversity
KW  - Guilan
KW  - Northern Iran
AB  - Background: Arboviral diseases such as dengue, Zika, and chikungunya are transmitted by Aedes aegypti and Ae albopictus and are emerging global public health concerns. Objective: This study aimed to provide up-to-date data on the occurrence of the invasive Aedes species in a given area as this is essential for planning and implementing timely control strategies. Methods: Entomological surveillance was planned and carried out monthly from May 2018 to December 2019 at higher-priority entry points in Guilan Province, Northern Iran, using ovitraps, larval collection, and human-baited traps. Species richness (R), Simpson (D), evenness (E), and Shannon-Wiener indexes (H̕) were measured to better understand the diversity of the Aedes species. The Spearman correlation coefficient and regression models were used for data analysis. Results: We collected a total of 3964 mosquito samples including 17.20% (682/3964) belonging to the Aedes species, from 3 genera and 13 species, and morphologically identified them from May 2018 to December 2019. Ae vexans and Ae geniculatus, which showed a peak in activity levels and population in October (226/564, 40.07% and 26/103, 25.2%), were the eudominant species (D=75.7%; D=21.2%) with constant (C=100) and frequent (C=66.7%) distributions, respectively. The population of Ae vexans had a significant positive correlation with precipitation (r=0.521; P=.009) and relative humidity (r=0.510; P=.01), whereas it was inversely associated with temperature (r=−0.432; P=.04). The Shannon-Wiener Index was up to 0.84 and 1.04 in the city of Rasht and in July, respectively. The rarefaction curve showed sufficiency in sampling efforts by reaching the asymptotic line at all spatial and temporal scales, except in Rasht and in October. Conclusions: Although no specimens of the Ae aegypti and Ae albopictus species were collected, this surveillance provides a better understanding of the native Aedes species in the northern regions of Iran. These data will assist the health system in future arbovirus research, and in the implementation of effective vector control and prevention strategies, should Ae aegypti and Ae albopictus be found in the province. 
SN  - 2369-2960
UR  - https://publichealth.jmir.org/2022/10/e38647
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2196/38647
UR  - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/363152
DO  - 10.2196/38647
ID  - info:doi/10.2196/38647
ER  -