Tribal Community Visit to Malaria-Endemic Areas Can Pose Risk to Car Nicobar Island: Deterrent for Malaria Elimination

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Division of Medical Entomology, Regional Medical Research Centre-ICMR, Dollygunj, Port Blair, Andaman and Nicobar Islands 744103, India

10.15171/ijtmgh.2019.07

Abstract

Introduction: In the past 10 years, a declining trend was seen in the annual parasite incidence (API) of malaria in the Car Nicobar Island. For the past few years, the API in the island has been below one. Car Nicobar Island is struggling with malaria cases reported to have been brought from other, malaria-endemic islands.
Methods: The movements of people were monitored by door-to-door visits during early morning hours, and the frequency of their movements to different islands (malarious and non-malarious areas) were monitored.
Results: A larger number of villagers visited non-malarious areas (OS-O) than malarious areas (OS-N). The maximum number of people was found out of station during the month of June. Thirty-seven percent of people were out of the station to non-malarious areas, while only 6% were out of the station to islands endemic for malaria. In the latter category, the majority of those who left the village were in the age groups of 16-30 years and 31–45 years. Even though fewer villagers visited malaria-endemic areas, their visits can pose a threat of malaria transmission, in view of the prevalence of local anopheline vectors.
Conclusion: Understanding people’s movement patterns to and from high malaria-transmission areas is important to designing strategic evidence-based control plans. In Car Nicobar, the main transport facilities within the inter-islands are ship and helicopter services. Hence, post-arrival medical examinations should be made mandatory to prevent the introduction of malaria parasites into the island.

Keywords

References

  1. Gushulak B, Weekers J, Macpherson D. Migrants and emerging public health issues in a globalized world: threats, risks and challenges, an evidence-based framework. Emerg Health Threats J. 2009;2:e10. doi:10.3134/ehtj.09.010.
  2. Guyant P, Canavati SE, Chea N, et al. Malaria and the mobile and migrant population in Cambodia: a population movement framework to inform strategies for malaria control and elimination. Malar J. 2015;14:252. doi:10.1186/s12936-015-0773-5.
  3. Bruce-Chwatt LJ. Malaria and its control: present situation and future prospects. Annu Rev Public Health. 1987;8:75-110. doi:10.1146/annurev.pu.08.050187.000451.
  4. Martens P, Hall L. Malaria on the move: human population movement and malaria transmission. Emerg Infect Dis. 2000;6(2):103-109. doi:10.3201/eid0602.000202.
  5. World Health Organization (WHO). Malaria elimination: a field manual for low and moderate endemic countries. Geneva: WHO; 2007.
  6. Pindolia DK, Garcia AJ, Huang Z, et al. The demographics of human and malaria movement and migration patterns in East Africa. Malar J. 2013;12:397. doi:10.1186/1475-2875-12-397.
  7. Feachem RGA, Phillips AA, Targett GA. Shrinking the malaria map: a prospectus on malaria elimination. San Francisco: The Global Health Group, Global Health Sciences, University of California; 2009.
  8. Nagpal BN, Sharma VP. Mosquitoes of Andaman Islands. Indian J Malariol. 1983;20:7-13.
  9. Dusfour I, Michaux JR, Harbach RE, Manguin S. Speciation and phylogeography of the Southeast Asian Anopheles sundaicus complex. Infect Genet Evol. 2007;7(4):484-493. doi:10.1016/j.meegid.2007.02.003.
  10. Nanda N, Das MK, Wattal S, Adak T, Subbarao SK. Cytogenetic Characterization of Anopheles sundaicus (Diptera: Culicidae) Population from Car Nicobar Island, India. Ann Entomol Soc Am. 2004;97(1):171-176. doi:10.1603/0013-8746(2004)097[0171:CCOASD]2.0.CO;2.
  11. Das MK, Nagpal BN, Sharma VP. Mosquito fauna and breeding habitats of anophelines in Car Nicobar Island, India. Indian J Malariol. 1998;35(4):197-205.
  12. Kumari R, Sharma VP. Resting and biting habits of Anopheles sundaicus in Car Nicobar Island. Indian J Malariol. 1994;31(3):103- 114.
  13. Kumari R, Joshi H, Giri A, Sharma VP. Feeding preferences of Anopheles sundaicus in Car Nicobar Island. Indian J Malariol. 1993;30(4):201-206.
  14. Krishnamoorthy K, Jambulingam P, Natarajan R, Shriram AN, Das PK, Sehgal SC. Altered environment and risk of malaria outbreak in South Andaman, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, India affected by tsunami disaster. Malar J. 2005;4:32. doi:10.1186/1475-2875-4-32.
  15. Directorate of health services (DHS). Andaman and Nicobar Islands. 2017.
  16. Manimunda SP, Shah WA, Shriram AN, et al. Malaria in Car Nicobar Island in the aftermath of the tsunami: some observations. Natl Med J India. 2009;22(4):217-218.
  17. Bui HM, Clements AC, Nguyen QT, et al. Social and environmental determinants of malaria in space and time in Viet Nam. Int J Parasitol. 2011;41(1):109-116. doi:10.1016/j.ijpara.2010.08.005.
  18. Wesolowski A, Eagle N, Tatem AJ, et al. Quantifying the impact of human mobility on malaria. Science. 2012;338(6104):267-270. doi:10.1126/science.1223467.
  19. World Health Organization (WHO). Eliminating malaria. https://www.who.int/malaria/en/.
  20. Lynch C, Roper C. The transit phase of migration: circulation of malaria and its multidrug-resistant forms in Africa. PLoS Med. 2011;8(5):e1001040. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1001040.
  21. Dondorp AM, Fairhurst RM, Slutsker L, et al. The threat of artemisinin-resistant malaria. N Engl J Med. 2011;365(12):1073- 1075. doi:10.1056/NEJMp1108322.
  22. Osorio L, Todd J, Bradley DJ. Travel histories as risk factors in the analysis of urban malaria in Colombia. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2004;71(4):380-386. doi:10.4269/ajtmh.2004.71.380.
  23. Ochoa J, Osorio L. [Epidemiology of urban malaria in Quibdo, Choco]. Biomedica. 2006;26(2):278-285. doi:10.7705/biomedica.v26i2.1417.
  24. Covell G, Singh P. Malaria in the Coastal Belt of Orissa. J Malar Inst India. 1942;4(4):457-593.
  25. Wagner KS, Lawrence J, Anderson L, et al. Migrant health and infectious diseases in the UK: findings from the last 10 years of surveillance. J Public Health (Oxf). 2014;36(1):28-35. doi:10.1093/pubmed/fdt021.
  26. Barnett ED, MacPherson DW, Stauffer WM, et al. The visiting friends or relatives traveler in the 21st century: time for a new definition. J Travel Med. 2010;17(3):163-170. doi:10.1111/j.1708-8305.2010.00411.x.
  27. Morrison PA, Bryan TM, Swanson DA. Internal Migration and Short-Distance Mobility. In: Siegel JS, Swanson DA, eds. The Methods and Materials of Demography. Elsevier Academic Press; 2004. doi:10.1016/B978-012641955-9/50053-9.
  28. Stoddard ST, Morrison AC, Vazquez-Prokopec GM, et al. The role of human movement in the transmission of vector-borne pathogens. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2009;3(7):e481. doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0000481.

Files

History

  • Receive Date: 15 November 2018
  • Revise Date: 25 January 2019
  • Accept Date: 16 February 2019

Share

How to cite

Statistics