Abstract

Objective: To survey mosquito diversity in the north-eastern area, which includes the most important gas industrial city in Qatar, and to investigate the potential mosquitoes for transmitting diseases. Methods: A study was performed from September 2009 until June 2011 in Al-Khor district of North-eastern Qatar. Five localities were selected for larval collection: Al Khor City (the main city), Al Dhakira, Ras Laffan (gas industrial city), Simsimah and Al Ghuwariyah. The survey was carried out by using different sampling methods and covering all expected natural breeding sites. The larvae were collected, preserved and transferred to the laboratory for identification. Results: Our findings revealed that 10 species of mosquito larvae had been detected from the area and five of them were new records in Qatar. The species encountered were: Ochlerotatus caspius (Pallas 1771), Anopheles stephensi (Liston 1901), Culex quinquefasciatus (Say 1823) (Cx. quinquefasciatus), Culex pipiens biotype molestus (Forskal 1775) (Cx. pipiens), Culex univittatus (Theobald 1901), Culex pusillus (Macquart 1850), Culex tritaeniorhynchus (Giles 1901) (Cx. tritaeniorhynchus), Culex laticinctus (Edwards 1913), Culex sitiens (Weidmann 1828) and Culex perexiguus (Theobald 1901). The new recorded species were Cx. quinquefasciatus, Cx. tritaeniorhynchus, Culex laticinctus, Culex sitiens and Culex perexiguus. The most prevalent type was Cx. pipiens molestus (31.29%) and followed by Culex pusillus and Cx. quinquefasciatus which have relatively similar prevalence of 18.72% and 18.52% respectively. Anopheles stephensi was an established vector for malaria. Cx. pipiens molestus and Cx. quinquefasciatus were vectors of West Nile virus and filariasis. Cx. tritaeniorhynchus was established as a vector of Rift Valley virus and Culex univittatus was the main vector of Sindbis virus. Conclusions: The north-eastern area of Qatar harbors is the most important industrial city in the country, which has witnessed an increase in the number of expatriate people. Because of the increase of reported mosquitoes, there is an urgent need for a surveillance program. This will allow us to build a database of mosquito vectors in the area.

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