Abstract
Dr. J. Lewis, of the Stack Medical Research Laboratories, has discussed the relationship of mosquitoes and yellow fever in the Sudan (Bull. Ent. Res., 3, pt. 4; 1947). It appears that most of the southern half of the Sudan is a yellow fever area in the sense that people immune to the disease have been found in many parts of that territory. The chance of the disease spreading to parts hitherto free is liable to be increased by such outbreaks as the great Nuba Mountains epidemic of 1941. It is noteworthy that several towns in the Sudan lie on important air, rail and water routes leading to countries free from yellow fever. Some 140 species of mosquitoes are known from the Sudan, and, of these, twelve kinds are known to be capable of transmitting the yellow fever virus, while several other kinds are suspected in this connexion. Two further species are able to retain this virus throughout life without apparently possessing the ability to transmit the disease by their blood-sucking habits. The object of the present paper is to record information on the occurrence and distribution of mosquitoes in the Sudan. The Anophelines are only briefly considered because they are unlikely to transmit yellow fever. Among the Culicines that affect man and frequent human habitations, Aedes taylori is believed to be one of the chief vectors in the case of the Nuba Mountains epidemic. As regards Aedes cegypti, it appears that mosquito control measures have had the effect of rendering urban yellow fever epidemics, carried by this species, virtually impossible, and the disease has been exterminated from Khartoum. The relation of Tceniorhynchus africanus to the disease is of special interest owing to its wide range and abundance in the Sudan. While there is no evidence that this species can act as a vector, it seems likely that it can act in this way in limited epidemics about the Upper Nile area. The author concludes by discussing the measures of mosquito control in the Sudan, which greatly restrict the possibilities of the spread of yellow fever. At the same time it is evident that the control of a rural epidemic would be difficult to achieve.
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Mosquitoes and Yellow Fever in the Sudan. Nature 160, 186 (1947). https://doi.org/10.1038/160186a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/160186a0