Transmission by Filariasis in the Philippine Islands by Anopheles minimus flavirostris Ludlow

Abstract

THE highest endemicity of filariasis in the Philippine Islands occurs in the extensive abaca-growing areas of the Bicol Peninsula, Samar, Leyte and Mindanao¹. Here the principal vector is the plant-cavity breeding Aedes (Finlaya) poicilius (Theobald), which is able to exist in dense populations because the abundant rainfall keeps the leaf axils of the abaca trees filled with water¹. In our survey of 1954–55 (ref. 2), we showed a general correlation between the presence of abaca and filarial endemicity, but there were two notable exceptions. One of these was in the northern mountain province of Luzon. Through the co-operation of the Malaria Eradication Unit stationed at Tabuk, we received a sample of night blood films which showed a 29 per cent microfilaræmia-rate.