Feeding Behavior and Detection in , a Malaria Vector in District Khyber, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.

Background: is a significant malaria vector in Pakistan, and understanding its feeding behavior is necessary to control the spread of malaria. However, limited information is available on the host preferences of in Pakistan. Therefore, we aimed to explore the feeding behavior of , a malaria vector, in the District Khyber, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.

Molecular identification of Leishmania tropica in mammals occurring in human-inhabited areas of a cutaneous leishmaniasis endemic focus in North-West Pakistan.

Cutaneous Leishmaniasis is endemic in the tribal district of Khyber near the Pak-Afghan border and is caused by Leishmania tropica. In Pakistan, cutaneous leishmaniasis caused by L. tropica is considered anthroponotic and is thought to be maintained by a human-sand fly-human transmission cycle.

Insecticide susceptibility and detection of kdr-gene mutations in Aedes aegypti of Peshawar, Pakistan.

Dengue is an endemic disease in Peshawar, Pakistan and its primary vector is Aedes aegypti mosquito. Due to absence of vaccines and proper treatment for dengue, vector control becomes a necessary tool for disease management. Reported insecticide resistance in vectors is a serious threat to the control of dengue.

Environmental risk modelling and potential sand fly vectors of cutaneous leishmaniasis in Chitral district: a leishmanial focal point of mount Tirich Mir, Pakistan.

Objective: To provide baseline information about suspected vectors and the incidence, distribution and an active zone of transmission for cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) in Chitral, Pakistan, using GIS tools; and to investigate the role of environmental factors in the disease dynamics.

Method: Two surveys in 2014 and 2016 as a basis for choropleth and environmental risk mapping.

Results: A total of 769 captured specimens yielded 14 Phlebotomus and six Sergentomyia species including two potential vectors of CL, i.

Global genetic diversity of Aedes aegypti.

Mosquitoes, especially Aedes aegypti, are becoming important models for studying invasion biology. We characterized genetic variation at 12 microsatellite loci in 79 populations of Ae. aegypti from 30 countries in six continents, and used them to infer historical and modern patterns of invasion.

Species Distribution Modelling of Aedes aegypti in two dengue-endemic regions of Pakistan.

Objectives: Statistical tools are effectively used to determine the distribution of mosquitoes and to make ecological inferences about the vector-borne disease dynamics. In this study, we utilised species distribution models to understand spatial patterns of Aedes aegypti in two dengue-prevalent regions of Pakistan, Lahore and Swat. Species distribution models can potentially indicate the probability of suitability of Ae.

Impact of human mobility on the emergence of dengue epidemics in Pakistan.

The recent emergence of dengue viruses into new susceptible human populations throughout Asia and the Middle East, driven in part by human travel on both local and global scales, represents a significant global health risk, particularly in areas with changing climatic suitability for the mosquito vector. In Pakistan, dengue has been endemic for decades in the southern port city of Karachi, but large epidemics in the northeast have emerged only since 2011. Pakistan is therefore representative of many countries on the verge of countrywide endemic dengue transmission, where prevention, surveillance, and preparedness are key priorities in previously dengue-free regions.

Comet assay based DNA evaluation of fuel filling stations and automobile workshops workers from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Pakistan.

Background: Fuel filling stations workers and automobile workshops mechanics are consistently exposed to gasoline hydrocarbons during their occupation, this may cause DNA damage. Objective of this study was to evaluate the level of DNA damage in subjects occupationally exposed to these hydrocarbons.

Methods: Comet assay was performed on blood lymphocytes of exposed subjects to assess the probable DNA damage.

Evaluation of DNA damage in lymphocytes of radiology personnel by comet assay.

Objectives: The importance of X-rays as a diagnostic medical tool cannot be denied. However, continuous exposure to X-rays can cause DNA damage. This study aimed to use the comet assay technique to investigate the level of DNA damage in lymphocytes due to X-rays in occupationally exposed personnel.