Urban Green Spaces and Vector-Borne Disease Risk in Africa: The Case of an Unclean Forested Park in Libreville (Gabon, Central Africa)

Judicaël Obame-Nkoghe (), Boris Kevin Makanga, Sylvie Brizard Zongo, Aubin Armel Koumba, Prune Komba, Neil-Michel Longo-Pendy, Franck Mounioko, Rodolphe Akone-Ella, Lynda Chancelya Nkoghe-Nkoghe, Marc-Flaubert Ngangue-Salamba, Patrick Yangari, Sophie Aboughe-Angone, Florence Fournet, Pierre Kengne and Christophe Paupy
Additional contact information
Judicaël Obame-Nkoghe: Laboratoire de Biologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire, Département de Biologie, Université des Sciences et Techniques de Masuku (USTM), Franceville BP 941, Gabon
Boris Kevin Makanga: Institut de Recherche en Écologie Tropicale (IRET/CENAREST), Libreville BP 13354, Gabon
Sylvie Brizard Zongo: Laboratoire de Biologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire, Département de Biologie, Université des Sciences et Techniques de Masuku (USTM), Franceville BP 941, Gabon
Aubin Armel Koumba: Institut de Recherche en Écologie Tropicale (IRET/CENAREST), Libreville BP 13354, Gabon
Prune Komba: Unité de Recherche GéoHydrosystèmes Continentaux (UR GéHCo), Département Géosciences et Environnement, Université de Tours, 37000 Tours, France
Neil-Michel Longo-Pendy: Unité de Recherche en Écologie de la Santé, Centre Interdisciplinaire de Recherches Médicales de Franceville (CIRMF), Franceville BP 769, Gabon
Franck Mounioko: Laboratoire de Biologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire, Département de Biologie, Université des Sciences et Techniques de Masuku (USTM), Franceville BP 941, Gabon
Rodolphe Akone-Ella: Unité de Recherche en Écologie de la Santé, Centre Interdisciplinaire de Recherches Médicales de Franceville (CIRMF), Franceville BP 769, Gabon
Lynda Chancelya Nkoghe-Nkoghe: Unité de Recherche en Écologie de la Santé, Centre Interdisciplinaire de Recherches Médicales de Franceville (CIRMF), Franceville BP 769, Gabon
Marc-Flaubert Ngangue-Salamba: Unité de Recherche en Écologie de la Santé, Centre Interdisciplinaire de Recherches Médicales de Franceville (CIRMF), Franceville BP 769, Gabon
Patrick Yangari: Unité de Recherche en Écologie de la Santé, Centre Interdisciplinaire de Recherches Médicales de Franceville (CIRMF), Franceville BP 769, Gabon
Sophie Aboughe-Angone: Institut de Pharmacopée et de Médecine Traditionnelle (IPHAMETRA), Libreville BP 1156, Gabon
Florence Fournet: Unité Mixte de Recherche Maladies Infectieuses et Vecteurs, Écologie, Génétique, Évolution et Contrôle (MIVEGEC), Université de Montpellier, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD), 34193 Montpellier, France
Pierre Kengne: Unité de Recherche en Écologie de la Santé, Centre Interdisciplinaire de Recherches Médicales de Franceville (CIRMF), Franceville BP 769, Gabon
Christophe Paupy: Unité Mixte de Recherche Maladies Infectieuses et Vecteurs, Écologie, Génétique, Évolution et Contrôle (MIVEGEC), Université de Montpellier, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD), 34193 Montpellier, France

IJERPH, 2023, vol. 20, issue 10, 1-17

Abstract: In Africa, vector-borne diseases are a major public health issue, especially in cities. Urban greening is increasingly considered to promote inhabitants’ well-being. However, the impact of urban green spaces on vector risk remains poorly investigated, particularly urban forests in poor hygienic conditions. Therefore, using larval sampling and human landing catches, this study investigated the mosquito diversity and the vector risk in a forest patch and its inhabited surroundings in Libreville, Gabon, central Africa. Among the 104 water containers explored, 94 (90.4%) were artificial (gutters, used tires, plastic bottles) and 10 (9.6%) were natural (puddles, streams, tree holes). In total, 770 mosquitoes belonging to 14 species were collected from such water containers (73.1% outside the forested area). The mosquito community was dominated by Aedes albopictus (33.5%), Culex quinquefasciatus (30.4%), and Lutzia tigripes (16.5%). Although mosquito diversity was almost double outside compared to inside the forest (Shannon diversity index: 1.3 vs. 0.7, respectively), the species relative abundance (Morisita–Horn index = 0.7) was similar. Ae. albopictus (86.1%) was the most aggressive species, putting people at risk of Aedes -borne viruses. This study highlights the importance of waste pollution in urban forested ecosystems as a potential driver of mosquito-borne diseases.

Keywords: vector-borne diseases; urbanization; urban forest; Aedes; Anopheles; Culex; Gabon; central Africa (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/10/5774/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/10/5774/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2023:i:10:p:5774-:d:1143141

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().