Diversity and Distribution of the Aedes Vectors in the Coastal Sites of Puducherry, Southern India

Introduction: Dengue poses a significant public health challengein Pondicherry. Understanding the distribution of Aedes mosquitopopulations is critical for devising and implementing effective vectorcontrol strategies.Methods: This study aimed to measure the abundance of denguevectors through entomological surveillance methods and to evaluatethe potential for dengue virus transmission within the coastal regionsof Pondicherry. An entomological survey was carried out across ninerandomly selected localities within Puducherry, in and around thepremises, during 2019–2020, covering 180 households monthly.Results: The analysis for the Adult Premise Index, per man hour density,and correlation was calculated using the SPSS Version 16.0 for assessingsignificant findings. The study found that Aedes mosquitoes infested24.9% of the 537 positive houses. The adult density of Aedes mosquitoeswas 16.6 per 10 person-hours and the average number of mosquitoesper house was 0.27 per 10 man-hours. The per-person-hour densityof Aedes mosquitoes varied from 8.0 to 23.7 and was more abundantduring monsoon months. Similarly, the adult premise index of Aedesmosquitoes varied from 8.9 to 36.7 and did not differ significantlyin various months. Ae. aegypti was the predominant dengue vectorfollowed by Ae. albopictus, which was most prevalent in June and lessprevalent in February.Conclusion: The current study provides valuable baseline data on theabundance and distribution of dengue vectors in the coastal areas ofPondicherry. Continued entomological surveillance is necessary tomonitor the effective of control measures and detect changes in vectorabundance and distribution over time. Velan I, Prasad P, Baskar V, Venkat V, Anil A,Ragupathi L. Diversity and Distribution of theAedes Vectors in the Coastal Sites of Puducherry,Southern India. J Commun Dis. 2025;57(1):79-84. DOI: https://doi.org/10.24321/0019.5138.202509