Urban malaria: myth and reality, Africa Health, July 2011.
William Brieger.
The basic factor involved in urban malaria is availability of breeding sites for anopheline species of mosquitoes. In general one could say that the malaria-carrying mosquitoes prefer to lay their eggs in still, clean, and sun-exposed water, ranging from ponds to small puddles, even as small as those made by hoof prints of cattle. In Africa only 20 of an estimated 140 anopheline species are responsible for malaria transmission and of these five are responsible for 95% of malaria transmission.
Although anopheline species can adapt to other aquatic environments, the main limitation of their survival in cities is the lack of clean water collections. In contrast, other mosquito species that carry viral febrile diseases abound in the gutters, water storage pots, and discarded tyres and cans commonly found in and around domestic premises in urban areas.
