Muhammad Mukhtar

Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations & Coordination · Directorate of Malaria Control.

Background: Aedes-borne diseases as dengue, zika, chikungunya and yellow fever are an emerging problem worldwide, being transmitted by Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus. Lack of up to date information about the distribution of Aedes species hampers surveillance and control. Global databases have been compiled but these did not capture data in the...

The present research was conducted to collect and identify genus Cohicaleyrodes from Punjab, a province of Pakistan. The specimens of this species were collected from 28.300 N to 32.300 N latitude, 70.250 E to 74.310 E and 150 to 225 meter in altitude. It is a very broad host range for this genus. Two species viz., Cohicaleyrodes setosus sp.nov. an...

Since 2005, in Pakistan, dengue is the fastest emerging arboviral infection. Lack of inter-sectoral coordination, planning, trained human resources, surveillance systems and effective monitoring and evaluation are the major current challenges to design evidence-based, cost-effective, community-friendly and sustainable dengue vector control strategi...

Dengue fever (DF) and dengue haemorrhagic fever (DHF) are emerging major public health concerns in Pakistan. During 1995-2004 only 699 dengue cases and 6 deaths were reported from 3 districts while these numbers dramatically increased to 55,946 and 539 respectively affecting 105 out of 146 districts/agencies/territories during 2005-2011. The diseas...

Intensive entomological investigations were carried out in seven dengue epidemic-prone districts of Pakistan, classifying them into three geographical regions, viz. southern, central and northern Pakistan. A total of 5132 water habitats from 2136 households in and around dengue-positive houses were sampled. Additionally, 264 samples each at least 3...

Intensive entomological investigations were carried out in seven dengue epidemic-prone districts of Pakistan, classifying them into three geographical regions, viz. southern, central and northern Pakistan. A total of 5132 water habitats from 2136 households in and around dengue-positive houses were sampled. Additionally, 264 samples each at least 3...

Malaria is the most prevalent and devastating parasitic disease in tropical countries. It kills more people than any other communicable disease except tuberculosis. Malaria is endemic in a total 101 countries, 45% population of world (5.8b) are at the risk of malaria. Globally there are 300-500 million clinical cases of this disease annually. An es...

Waste stabilisation ponds (WSP) are the preferred method for treatment of urban wastewater in low-income countries but, especially in arid regions, the pond systems can be important breeding sites for mosquitoes of medical importance. In a WSP system in Faisalabad, Pakistan, we assessed the impact of simple environmental interventions on mosquito o...

The objective of the current study was to investigate the role of waste stabilization ponds (WSP) and wastewater-irrigated sites for the production of mosquitoes of medical importance. Mosquito larvae were collected fortnightly from July 2001 to June 2002 in Faisalabad, Pakistan. In total, 3,132 water samples from WSP and irrigated areas yielded 60...

The health risks of wastewater use in agriculture were investigated in the city of Faisalabad, Pakistan, by means of a cross-sectional study. The study showed an increased risk of intestinal nematode infection and hookworm infection, in particular, in wastewater farmers (OR = 31.4, 95% CI 4.1-243) and their children (OR = 5.7, 95% CI 2.1-16) when c...

The Pakistani Punjab experienced several devastating malaria epidemics during the twentieth century. Since the 1980s, however, malaria has been at a low ebb, while in other areas of Pakistan and neighbouring India malaria is on the increase. This raises the question of whether transmission in the Pakistani Punjab may have been influenced by a chang...

Surface irrigation in the Punjab province of Pakistan has been carried out on a large scale since the development of the Indus Basin Irrigation System in the late 19th century. The objective of our study was to understand how the population dynamics of adult anopheline mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) could be related to malaria transmission in rura...

Mosquito breeding within the wastewater irrigation system around the town of Haroonabad in the southern Punjab, Pakistan, was studied from July to September 2000 as part of a wider study of the costs and benefits of wastewater use in agriculture. The objective of this study was to assess the vector-borne human disease risks associated with mosquito...

This article provides taxonomic keys for the identification of the fourth-instar larvae and females of 24 species of anopheline mosquitoes (seven species in subgenus Anopheles and 17 species in subgenus Cellia) recorded from Pakistan. The keys are based on literature sources as well as the examination of field and museum collections.

As part of investigations on potential linkages between irrigation and malaria transmission, all surface water bodies in and around three villages along an irrigation distributary in South Punjab, Pakistan, were surveyed for anopheline mosquito larvae (Diptera: Culicidae) from April 1999 to March 2000. Samples were characterized according to exposu...

Pakistan is located in a severe water-scarce zone, which increases the scope of the reuse of wastewater and resultantly it is now being used for irrigation virtually without treatment and restriction in almost all cities. Treatment ponds have been constructed in some cities of Pakistan, but due to financial constraints most of them are in a non-fun...