Mosquito Species Composition andPlasmodium vivaxInfection Rates on Baengnyeong-do (Island), Republic of Korea

Prior to being eradicated from the Republic of Korea (ROK) in 1979, Plasmodium vivax Grassi and Feletti, the causative agent of vivax malaria, was endemic and widespread throughout the ROK [1,2].In 1993, vivax malaria reemerged on the Korean peninsula [2,3], and in the ROK, most malaria cases have since been contracted near the demilitarized zone (DMZ) that bor ders North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea, DP RK) [46].Unique conditions in the vicinity of the DMZ, such as the exposure of large numbers of soldiers to malaria para sites and the unmanaged nature of the environment that en courages mosquito breeding, are thought to exacerbate the malaria situation [2,7].Little information is available as to how widespread malaria is in the DPRK, what mosquito species are involved in malaria transmission, and the relative abundance and distribution of potential malaria vector populations.On going mosquito surveillance data is available for the ROK [5,6] and parasite rates for different species have been reported [8,9], but few data of a similar nature are available for the DPRK.Anopheles belenrae Rueda, Anopheles pullus Yamada, and Anoph eles sinensis Wiedemann have been recorded in the DPRK in 2 provinces (Hwanghae and Pyongyang) by Rueda and Gao [10].Foley et al. [11] produced ecological niche models for 8 ano pheline species using collection location data from the ROK that predicted suitable habitat in the ROK and southern DPRK.An. sinensis is the predominant species collected south of Seoul; however, in malaria risk areas in the north, other species are frequently more common [4,12] and may play a greater role in malaria transmission.Baengnyeongdo is a 45.8 km 2 island located near the North ern Limit Line (Fig. 1).This island is the westernmost point of the ROK, and is 16 km from the DPRK coast.As such, ento mological conditions on Baengnyeongdo may more closely reflect those in the southwestern DPRK than the rest of the ROK.