The Effect Of Total Dissolved Solids, Salinity And Electrical Conductivity Parameters Of Water On Abundance Of Anopheles Mosquito Larvae In Different Breeding Sites Of Kapiri Mposhi

Malaria is a global public health problem, caused by malaria parasites transmitted by the vector adult female Anopheles mosquitoes. The life cycle of Anopheles mosquito (Order: Diptera) has six stages egg, four larvae instars and pupa. The immature stages are aquatic and determine the abundance, distribution and fitness of the adult Anopheles mosquito. The physicochemical parameters (Conductivity, Salinity and Total Dissolved solids) of water affects survival and development of the larvae. The district was surveyed for various breeding sites and classified as dam, river, marshlands, swamps and temporal water ponds. The car tracks, animal hove prints, garden water ponds which dries up after some few weeks were pooled together and classified as temporal water ponds were identified. Ten replicate samples were taken per breeding site on a weekly basis and the physicochemical parameters were recorded and the Anopheles larvae was surveyed and collected from these breeding site. The calibrated multi parameter meter (explorer GLX Pasco) was used to measure physicochemical parameters in the field following the manufacturer’s guidelines the water. The results of physicochemical parameters when compared to standard ranges the water was classified as fresh mineral domestic water. A total of 556 Anopheles larvae were collected and from the available breeding sites using the World Health Organization 350ml Standard Dipper for scooping. These larvae were reared in the insectary and only 267 emerged as adults. The emerged adults were morphologically identified. The 267 emerged adults were profiled to species level using the quantitative polymerase chain Reaction (qPCR).the results of qPCR were 40% An.gambiae s.s, 35% An.arabiensis Paton 5% non-amplified profiles there was no An.Funestus.the breeding site with the most abundant anopheles siblings was the temporal water ponds. A significant positive linear relationship existed between the predictor variables and larvae abundance with R value of 0.302 whose significant F.chnage value is 0.000 less than the P-value of 0.05.A positive significant Pearson correlation between Salinity(r=0.240, p= 0.000), Electrical Conductivity(r=0.120 p=0.003) and Larvae abundance existed while a correlation between Total dissolved Solids and larvae abundance(r=0.018 p=0.663) is not significant. The physicochemical parameters (conductivity and Salinity) have significant relations while Total Dissolved Solids have insignificant positive linear relationship on the abundance of Anopheles mosquito in various breeding sites of Kapiri Mposhi districts.