A global map of dominant malaria vectors

Background: global maps,in particular those based on vector distributions,have long been used to help visualise the global extent of malaria. few,however,have been created with the support of a comprehensive and extensive evidence-based approach. methods. here we describe the generation of a global map of the dominant vector species (dvs) of malaria that makes use of predicted distribution maps for individual species or species complexes. results: our global map highlights the spatial variability in the complexity of the vector situation. in africa,an. gambiae,an. arabiensis and an. funestus are co-dominant across much of the continent,whereas in the asian-pacific region there is a highly complex situation with multi-species coexistence and variable species dominance. conclusions: the competence of the mapping methodology to accurately portray dvs distributions is discussed. the comprehensive and contemporary database of species-specific spatial occurrence (currently available on request) will be made directly available via the malaria atlas project (map) website from early 2012. © 2012 sinka et al; licensee biomed central ltd.