Please wait while the transcript is being prepared...
0:00
This presentation
will cover the topic of Species
Complexes- Confusion
in Identifying the True
Vectors of Malaria
and Other Parasites.
My name is Susan Paskewitz.
I'm a professor and medical
entomologist in the Department
of Entomology at the
University of Wisconsin.
0:19
Let's begin with a
historical example
that illustrates the problem.
Malaria was an old
scourge in Europe,
with patterns of transmission that
varied from constant incidence
in hyperendemic areas to periodic
outbreaks in epidemic zones.
0:37
Following the momentous
discovery in 1898
that Anopheles mosquitoes
transmit malaria,
Anopheles maculipennis was
circumstantially incriminated
as the most likely vector in Europe.
This mosquito was originally
described and named from specimens
that had been collected
in Germany around 1818.
And for the next 100 years,
it was believed that Anopheles
maculipennis was the major
Anophele mosquito in Europe,
with a wide distribution
through most countries.
1:10
But one of the most serious
criticisms of the theory
that Anopheles transmitted
malaria was that high densities
of these mosquitoes
were frequently reported
in areas with no
malaria transmission.
This pattern was called
anophelism without malaria.
Equally curious was the
disappearance of malaria
from certain endemic areas of Europe
without any effort to eradicate it,
and despite high
densities of Anopheles.
