| Summary: | Objective: To determine abundance, distribution and diversity of potential breeding
container habitats of the dengue vectors in public places including schools, restaurants,
mosques and parks in southwest areas of Penang Island, Malaysia.
Methods: Premises at restaurants, schools, parks and mosques were surveyed simultaneously
and inspected visually for container habitats and production of immature
mosquitoes from March 2015 to March 2016. Abundance (mean ± SE) of breeding
containers between sites was compared using One-way ANOVA. Independent sample ttest
was used to compare total number of Aedes albopictus (Ae. albopictus) and Aedes
aegypti (Ae. aegypti) surveyed.
Results: The surveyed locations yielded a total of 3741 breeding containers and 19537
immature mosquitoes from four areas. Concurrent artificial and natural containers produced
78.4% immature Ae. albopictus and 6.3% Ae. aegypti mosquitoes in wet season,
with 14.2% Ae. albopictus and 1.1% Ae. aegypti mosquitoes in dry season. Artificial
containers accounted for 98.1% of the total containers recorded, with restaurants being
the most productive locations (8 012) and schools being the least productive (2 234).
Conclusions: It was concluded that public places are good sources of potential container
habitats of Aedes mosquitoes in Penang Island, Malaysia and Ae. albopictus has exclusively
replaced the home-grown Ae. aegypti even in urban areas. Therefore, treatment of
artificial containers in such locations is critical in Aedes mosquito control campaigns
during dengue outbreaks.
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