Occurrence of geospatial clustering of anopheline mosquitoes in a settlement in Epe, Nigeria

Abstract

<title>Abstract</title> Targeted mosquito control programmes to areas with high abundance and clustering maximises intervention effectiveness. The distribution pattern of Anopheles mosquito larvae was investigated for the presence of clustering distribution patterns using Global Moran’s Index (GMI) spatial autocorrelation and clustering and outlier analysis, in Epe and Orimedu. Each study area was systematically stratified into 12 settlements. Stratified random technique was used to select two georeferenced sampling stations from each settlement and subsequently imported into ArcGIS environment for overlaying on the land use land cover map of the study areas. Larval abundance varied across the sampling stations in Epe (603±160) and Orimedu (531±248). Larval abundance was 53% and 55% in upper altitude stations in Epe and Orimedu respectively. Anopheles larval clustering was observed in only Sagidan settlement in Epe, GMI = 0.43, p&lt;0.05 but not in any of Orimedu settlements, GMI = -0.093, p&gt;0.05. The observed spatial variability in Anopheles larvae in the study area is independent of presence of clustering. The clustering distribution pattern of Anopheles larvae observed in Epe may be attributed to the relatively heterogeneous nature of the terrain and highly varied altitude. Consequently, Epe will require a targeted approach in the allocation of malaria vector control intervention.