Malaria Situation in Forest-Fringed Villages of Sonitpur District (Assam), India Bordering Arunachal Pradesh During an Outbreak‪.‬

Introduction Malaria still remains as the major public health problems in India. Despite numerous control measures, malaria continues to be uninterrupted with high morbidity and mortality in the area of its occurrence. Northeastern region of India is one of the hot spots for malaria transmission. Focal outbreaks of malaria are of common occurrence especially in forest-fringed villages of Sonitpur district (Assam) bordering Arunachal Pradesh occupied by new settlers (1). Perennial and persistent transmission of malaria is well known in this region because of Plasmodium falciparum resistant to antimalarial drugs (2,3), efficient anthropophagic vectors, congenial climatic conditions for mosquito breeding, high man-vector contact, lack of awareness and low socio-economic conditions (1). The dominance of P. falciparum (1,4-1), and Anopheles minimus and An. dirus (Diptera: Culicidae), the major anthropophagic vectors of malaria in Northeastern region of India support the continued transmission of the disease (5,6,8,9). Incrimination of An. fluviatilis from Boko area (10) and An. culicifacies from Garubandha area of Sonitpur district of Assam (11) as malaria vectors, also confirmed their supporting role in the transmission of the disease. Moreover, vast ecological changes have taken place in this region in recent years due to deforestation causing enormous mosquitogenic conditions (12). Deforestation and opening up of new land in forest areas either for crop cultivation or settlement due to increased population have brought some changes in eco-environment, which influenced the transmission of the disease resulting in some changes in behavioural aspects of the vector species (7). Thus, it is essential to review the distribution and species composition of vector mosquitoes in a given area for adopting any vector control strategy.