Hygiena 2012, 57(1):4-9

Research on Mosquitoes in Southern Moravia and Their Significance for Health

Oldřich Šebesta^1,2, František Rettich³, Juraj Peško²

¹ Krajská hygienická stanice Jihomoravského kraje se sídlem v Brně

² Ústav biologie obratlovců AV ČR v. v. i., Brno

³ Státní zdravotní ústav, Praha

Southern Moravia has long been an area with very high incidence of mosquitoes. Serious problems occur especially in periods of their massive outbreaks, when a person can be attacked by dozens or even hundreds of females per minute. A mosquito calamity is said to occur in a situation where 10 and more attacks per minute are recorded in a township's built-up area apart from the period of highest activity. One also must not rule out the potential here for mosquitoes to be vectors of human diseases. Several types of viruses transmitted by mosquitoes (moboviruses) have been isolated in southern Moravia, in particular the Ťahyňa virus (TAHV) and West Nile virus (WNV). Malaria occurred here endemically until the mid-20th century. Through their research here since 1995, the authors have found 32 species of mosquitoes within 7 genera. The calamity (Aedes vexans, Ochlerotatus sticticus) and floodwater mosquito species (Ae. rossicus and Ae. cinereus s. l.) were captured most frequently during the research. In the spring period, Oc. cantans, Oc. annulipes, and Oc. Cataphylla are notably widespread. Culex pipiens and Cx. modestus have been very abundant as well. Both species are considered to be potential WNV vectors in southern Moravia. Five species of possible malaria carriers (Anopheles genus) have been detected (An. maculipennis s. str. and An. messeae only on the basis of egg determination). Their occurrence has been rather sparse, however, in comparison to the aforementioned species.

Keywords: West Nile virus, Ťahyňa virus, infectious diseases, vectors, mosquitoes, southern Moravia

Received: July 2011; Accepted: October 11, 2011; Published: March 1, 2012  Show citation