Seasonal prevalence of a Japanese encephalitis vector, Culex tritaeniorhynchus (Diptera: Culicidae) in the Republic of Korea, 2016

Lim Hyung Woo, Roh Jong Yul, Lee Hak Seon, Cho Shin Hyeong
Division of Vectors and Parasitic Diseases, Center for Laboratory Control of Infectious Diseases, KCDC

The population density of a Japanese encephalitis vector mosquito, Culex tritaeniorhynchus, was monitored at 28 collection points in the Republic of Korea from April to October in 2016. Black-light traps were installed in 10 provinces (Busan, Gyeonggi, Gangwon, Chungbuk, Chungnam, Jeonbuk, Jeonnam, Gyeongbuk, Gyeongnam, and Jeju) to capture mosquitoes for identification and classification. The number of captured mosquitoes per week was calculated as its daily occurrence (mosquitoes/trap/night). Total of 527,409 mosquitoes including 17 species of 7 genera were collected. Aedes vexans nipponii was the most common species, followed by Anopheles spp. and Cx. tritaeniorhynchus. Cx. tritaeniorhynchus occupied 9.2% of all collected mosquitoes and it was firstly captured on 1st April at Gyeongnam and Jeju. Cx. tritaeniorhynchus was started to increase from April, and showed its peak on 3rd week of August, 2016. These results were posted at KCDC homepage (http://www.kdca.go.kr) to help in the prevention and control of Japanese encephalitis.