First Report of Plasmodium Infectivity and Dynamics of Anopheles Mosquito species in Gombe State, Northeastern, Nigeria

This study was conducted between January and December 2022 in eight communities in Gombe State, North-East Nigeria.The study aimed at assessing the prevalence of Plasmodium falciparum sporozoites in Anopheles gambiae s.l. and examining the heterogeneity of Anopheles mosquito populations.To collect data, Indoor Pyrethrum Spray Catch (PSC) was employed in three randomly selected houses per community for adult mosquito collection.Additionally, a standard dipper was used to collect immature Anopheles stages in a stream, puddles, trailer park and soakaway from thirty (30) breeding sites of eight communities, which were then reared to adulthood in the laboratory.Morphological identification was carried out on all collected mosquitoes, and An.gambiae s.l.specimens were further validated using standard PCR protocol to distinguish sibling species.Out of the 3, 837 emerged adults, An. gambiae s.l. was the predominant species, constituting 58.33% (2, 238 samples), while An.rufipes was the least prevalent at 1.36% (52 samples).Although no significant difference in Anopheles composition was observed among the eight study communities (p > 0.05, F = 0.0129), a significant difference was found between the individual Anopheles species (p < 0.05, F = 9.10).The results indicate that, Adult An. gambiae s.l. was distributed across all eight communities, with a Shannon Weiner diversity index of 1.896 and Dominance of 0.1649.Notably, An. rufipes exhibited the highest Evenness value of 0.8516 among Anopheline species.Molecular identification of 91 Anopheles gambiae s.l.sub-samples revealed that 26.37% were An.gambiae s.s, 39.56% were An.coluzzii, and 3.30% were An.arabiensis.An overall prevalence of 11.00% (2 out of 18 blood-fed female Anopheles gambiae s.l.) for P. falciparum was established, though limited to one study community.Understanding the diversity, distribution, abundance, and infectivity of Anopheles mosquitoes is crucial for effective malaria control and elimination efforts in Gombe State and Nigeria as a whole.