Institut de Géographie Tropicale (IGT), UFR des Sciences de l’Homme et de la Société (SHS), Université Félix Houphouët-Boigny, 01 BP 10609 Abidjan 01, Côte d’Ivoire
The eradication of parasitic diseases transmitted by vectors such as the malaria carrying mosquito depends partly on vector control which requires the knowledge of their development conditions in space and time. As a contribution, this study aims to determine geographically the environmental and anthropogenic driving factors that contribute to the development of mosquitoes in Chiépo sub-prefecture located in the forested area of Côte d'Ivoire. The study focuses on characterizing the spatial dynamics of mosquito breeding sites, analyzing population’s behavior and socio-economic activities in the study area. To achieve this, geospatial data collection based on GIS techniques have been coupled with entomological methods of culicidal fauna prospection. The results of the investigations show that natural ecosystems, populations’ behavior, lifestyle and poor prophylactic knowledge, coupled with the type of socio-economic activities, contribute to the development of mosquitoes by providing them with breeding sites, rest shelter and availability of their blood meals at short-distance. Breeding sites are mainly permanent (42.9 %) and temporary (37.4 %). They contain three genera of mosquito larvae predominantly Culex (47 %) which is present in 80 % of the localities of the study area. High larval density localities are Chiépo (Anopheles and Aedes), CFI and Guiguidou (Culex).