Student Research Reports

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Mombasa City is the second largest city in Kenya. It has a rapidly growing population, and some areas experience overcrowding, numerous open dump sites, inadequate drainage, stagnant water and ample breeding sites for mosquitoes. These factors make Mombasa particularly vulnerable to vector-borne diseases like Malaria, Dengue fever and Chikungunya among others. The aim of this project was to identify the mosquito larval species within our school in artificial breeding places. Our group concentrated in the School’s Kindergarten section. The research involved setting up artificial mosquito breeding sites around the school compound, visiting them every seven days and making observations. The procedure for observation was to count the number of mosquito larvae and record, identify the larva following the mosquito mapper tutorial and destroying the breeding sights. We concluded that most dominant mosquito species in Nyali area is Aedes. This justifies the large number of records about dengue fever and chikungunya virus in Mombasa County. We recommend that the mosquito control measures be targeted at eradicating the larval stage other than targeting the adults. This can be done by the use of a larvicide designed primarily to impact mosquito larvae thereby reducing the risks to non-target organisms. The community should also be educated on the importance of dumping stagnant water. Depending on the size and layout of the larval area larvicide applications can take place on land or in the air. Successful implantation demonstrably reduces though not totally eliminates the number of adult mosquitoes in a given control area, minimizing the need for more intensive and to some controversial adult control actions.