[Malaria indices, larval ecology and trophic activity of Anopheles mosquitoes in Djohong (Adamaoua, Cameroon) in the rainy season].

In Djohong in the wet season the prevalence of malaria is 17.5% for Plasmodium falciparum and 1.1% for Plasmodium malariae. In children 2 to 9 years of age the plasmodic index is 38.6% (mesoendemicity) for the children of the peasants and 9.4% for those belonging to other socioeconomical groups. In infants less than 12 months old, the plasmodic index is 9.3%, this relatively high rate corresponding to the high transmission period of the rainy season. Anopheles gambiae is the mosquito species most often found in the area (2/3 of the mosquitoes caught in the houses). The breeding sites in he surrounding of the houses are rainwater holes linked to human activity. At a larger distance from the houses, in the valley, the breeding sites are water holes borrowed for the retting of cassava tubercle or natural rock pools found in the basaltic shores of the Mbere river. The trophic activity of Anopheles gambiae and Anopheles funestus is high between 0 and 4 hours a.m. In October the mean number of anopheline mosquitoes bites per night per inhabitant is 33 inside the houses and 7 outside.