Mosquitoes Composition and Plasmodium Infection Status in Malaria Vectors in an Urban Community in Lafia Metropolis, Nasarawa State, Nigeria

Background: Malaria continues to be a significant threat to public health in Nigeria and the best way to nip it on board is through entomological surveillance.Therefore, this study aimed at investigating mosquitoes composition and Plasmodium infection status in malaria vectors in an urban community in Lafia metropolis of Nasarawa State, Nigeria. Method:The survey was carried out during wet season between June and July 2021.Prokopack Aspirator was used to collect indoor resting mosquitoes from 6:00 am to 9:00 am from 30 randomly selected houses.Mosquitoes were sorted and identified using standard identification keys.Malaria vectors were dissected and screened for the presence of sporozoite.Results: A total of 161 mosquitoes were collected which spread across three mosquito species namely, Culex quinquefasciatus 84 (52.17%),Anopheles gambiae s. l. 69 (42.86%) and Aedes aegypti 8 (4.97%).The abundance of mosquitoes in relation to species varied significantly (P < 0.05).Most of the inhabitants in the randomly selected households use insecticides in their rooms while some other households sleep under long lasting insecticidal treated bed nets.The abundance of mosquitoes in the month of June was low 70 (43.48%)while July period recorded higher number of mosquitoes 91 (56.52%).Fed female mosquitoes were the most dominant 53 (48.18%) followed by unfed 36 (32.73%) then gravid 12 (10.91%)while the least was half gravid females 9 (8.18%).None of the 48 female An.gambiae s. l. dissected had the infective stage of P. falciparum.The entomological indices in the study area shows a 3.66 mosquitoes per house per night and an overall 1.18 bites/person/night. Conclusion:In conclusion, the inhabitants of the area should always sleep under insecticide treated bed nets and make use of other relevant forms of protection against mosquitoes bites.