Rev. Saúde Pública vol.37 número5

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Rev Saúde Pública 2003; 37(5) Di st r i b u t i o n o f Aed es al b o p i ct u s

www.f sp .u sp .b r / r sp Sant o s R La C

Revist a de Saúde Pública

I SSN 0034- 8910 versão im pressa

Rev Saúde Pública 2003; 37(5)

Updating of the distribution of Aedes albopictus in Braz il (1 9 9 7

-2 0 0 -2 )

Roseli La Cor t e dos San t os

Cent ro Nacional de Epidem iologia/ Fundação Nacional de Saúde. Brasília, DF, Brasil

ABSTRACT

Updat ing r egar ding t he dist r ibut ion of Aedes albopict us in Brazil is present ed for t he period from 1997 t o 2002. Dat a fr om t he yellow fever and dengue infor m at ion syst em of t he Nat ional Healt h Foundat ion is ut ilized. I t can be seen t hat t his species is pr esent in 20 of t he 27 Br azilian st at es.

Keywords

Aedes . Ecology , v ect or s. I n sect v ect or s. Den gu e. Yellow fev er . Geogr aphic dist r ibut ion. Aedes albopict us.

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The fir st r ecor d of Aedes albopict us in Br azil w as in 1986, in t he St at e of Rio de Janeir o.2 I n t hat sam e year , t he species w as t hen found in Minas Ger ais and São Paulo and, in t he follow ing year , in Espír it o San t o.1 Thus, w it hin j ust one y ear , Ae. albopict u s had becom e est ablished in all t he st at es of t he sout heast er n r egion.

The Nat ional Healt h Foundat ion ( FUNASA) r eceiv es dat a on infest at ion by Aedes aegy pt i an d Ae.

albopict u s from all Brazilian st at es, by m eans of t he yellow fever and dengue inform a t ion sy st em

( FAD) . This infor m at ion com es fr om sam ples collect ed w it h a view t o det er m ining infest at ion r at es in ar eas w her e Ae. aegy pt i is present . I n addit ion t o t his, inform at ion is also generat ed from ent om ological sur v eillance, w it h t he use of lar v it raps or ovit raps, for m unicipalit ies t hat init ially had no infest at ion.

Accor ding t o r ecom m endat ions fr om FUNASA, infest at ion sur v ey s t o det er m ine Br et eau and building indices, w hich gener at e infor m at ion for t he FAD, should be done ev er y t w o m ont hs in infest ed m unicipalit ies and every four m ont hs in non- infest ed m unicipalit ies.3

The figure shows a m ap drawn up from correct ed FAD inform at ion, indicat ing t he m unicipalit ies where t h e pr esen ce of Ae. albopict us was recorded during t he period from 1997 t o 2002.

Figure 1 – Municipalities where Aedes albopictus was reported between January 1997 and December 2002, based on data from FUNASA Yellow Fever and Dengue Data System and other.

Rapid and incr easing ex pansion of t he occur r ence of Ae. albopict us has been obser v ed since it s int r oduct ion int o t he count r y . Only sev en Br azilian st at es hav e not y et r epor t ed infest at ion by t his species: Am apá, Ror aim a, Acr e, Tocant ins, Piauí, Cear á and Ser gipe, four of t hem in t he nor t her n region and t hree in t he nort heast ern region. The St at es of Par á and Alagoas hav e r ecor ded it s occur r ence in only one m unicipalit y each, Medicilândia and Maceió, r espect iv ely . I t is im por t ant w hen analy zing t he Figur e t o under st and t hat t he geogr aphical unit ut ilized on t he car t ogr aphic base is t he m unicipalit y. The ar ea cover ed by a single m unicipalit y m ay be ver y ext ensive in t he nor t her n r egion of t he count r y . Thus, alt hough t he species m ay hav e been encount er ed in few localit ies w it hin such m unicipalit ies, t he ent ire m unicipalit y w ill be indicat ed on t he m ap. I t is also v er y pr obable t hat t he indicat ion of m unicipalit ies in t he sout heast er n r egion w it hout infest at ion but sur r ounded by ot her s t hat ar e infest ed w ill r eflect a lack of infor m at ion r at her t han t he absence of t he species.

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t echnicians r esponsible for m osquit o ident ificat ion, as w ell as t heir poor know ledge of ent om ology and t he large work dem ands placed on t hem , it m ay be supposed t he area of t he nort hern and nor t heast er n r egions occupied by t he species m ay hav e been under est im at ed. I n addit ion t o t his, t he r ecor ding of it s occur r ence in localit ies w it hout dengue cases w ill depend on r out ine ent om ological sur veillance, w hich is an act ivit y t hat has not yet been im plem ent ed in all Br azilian municipalit ies.

This species has dem onst r at ed a pot ent ial for occupy ing Br azilian r ur al and for est ar eas.4 , 6 Lar v ae m ay be found in holes in t r ees and im br icat ions of plant leav es. This penet r at ion of t he nat ur al environm ent will give t he possibilit y of inc luding Ae. albopict us w it hin t he t r ansm ission cy cles t hat unt il now hav e been m aint ained by Br azilian for est species. The dem onst r at ion t hat Ae. albopict us has v ect or com pet ence for t he t r ansm ission of t he y ellow fev er v ir us5 and t he expansion of t he ar ea it occupies w it hin t he nat ional t er r it or y r ecor ded in t he pr esent w or k point t ow ar ds an incr ease in t he ar ea at r isk of y ellow fev er , since t he species can be act iv e in bot h for est and hum an env ir onm ent s. I t m ay t hus bot h car r y t he vir us fr om for est t o human environm ent s and favor virus m aint enance in t he urban environm ent .

Th e ex t en t of t h e ecological pen et r at ion of Ae. albopict us m eans t hat it s cont r ol w ill be difficult w it h t he use of t he sam e st r at egies as ut ilized for Ae. aegypt i. Since t his r egion has an environm ent rich in virus populat ions, m any of t hem st ill unknown,7 t he pr esence of Ae. albopict us m ay m ake it m ore r ecept iv e t o t he em er gence of ar bov ir uses, especially in ar eas of const ant env ir onm ent al change.

ACKNOWLED GEM ENT S

To Cát ia Parreira and Dav id H S Azev edo of t he Healt h Sur v eillance Depar t m ent of t he Minist ér io da Sáude of Br asil, for pr ocessing t he dat a fr om t he yellow fever and dengue infor m at ion syst em ; t o MB Arduino of t he SUCEN ,São Paulo, Brazil ( Endem ic Disease Cont rol Office) ; t o AS Fay al of t h e Secr et ar ia de Saúde of Par á, Br azil; t o AKR Gallardo of t he Fundação Nacional de Saúde, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; t o FEM Sousa of t he Secr et ar ia da Saúde do Rio Gr ande do Sul, Br azil; t o NA Sant os of Secr et ar ia da Saúde of Par aíba, Br azil; and t o LB Cost a of t he Secr et ar ia da Saúde of Mat o Gr osso, Brazil, for supplem ent ary inform at ion.

REFEREN CES

1. Consoli RAGB, Lourenço- de- Oliveira R. Pr incipais m osquit os de im por t ância sanit ár ia no Brasil. Rio de Janeiro: Fiocruz; 1994.

2. For at t ini OP. I dent ificação de Aedes ( St egom y ia) albopict us ( Skuse) no Brasil. Rev Saúde Pública 1986; 20: 244- 5.

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4. Gom es AC, Bit encour t MD, Nat al D, Pint o PLS, Mucci LF, Paula MB et al. Aedes albopict us em área rural do Brasil e im plicações na t ransm issão de febre am arela silvest re. Rev Saúde Pública 1999; 33: 95 - 7 .

5. Johnson BW, Chambers TV, Crabt ree MB, Filippis AMB, Vilarinhos PTR, Resende MC et al. Vect or com pet ence of Brazilian Aedes aegy pt i and Ae. albopict us for a Brazilian yellow fever virus isolat e.

Tr ans Roy al Soc Tr op Med Hy g 2002; 96: 611- 3 .

6. Mar ques GRAM, Sant os R La C, Forat t ini OP. Aedes albopict us em brom élias em am bient e ant rópico no Est ado de São Paulo, Brasil. Rev Saúde Pública 2001; 35: 243- 8 .

7 . Vascon celos PFC, Tr av assos- da- Rosa APAT, Rodr igues SG, Tr av assos- da- Rosa EST, Degallier N, Tr av assos- da- Rosa JFT. I nadequat e m anagem ent of nat ural ecosyst em in t he Brazilian Am azon region r esult s in t he em er gence and r eem er gence of ar bov ir uses. Cad Saúde Pública 2001; 17 Supl: 155- 64.

Address to correspondence

Roseli La Cor t e dos Sant os

Fundação Nacional de Saúde Set or de Aut ar quias Sul Quadra 4 Bloco N Sala 726 70070 - 040 Brasília, DF, Brazil E- m ail: r lacor t e@usp. br

Receiv ed 8/ 10/ 2002. Reviewed on 28/ 4/ 2003. Approved on 6/ 6/ 2003.

Ave n ida D r . Ar n a ldo, 7 1 5 0 1 2 4 6 - 9 0 4 Sã o Pa u lo SP Br a zil

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