Introduction River Rwizi has its source in Buhweju District in south-western Uganda, is the main source of water to residents

and livestock in the districts of Buhweju, Bushenyi, Sheema, Ntungamo, Isingiro, Mbarara, Kiruhura and Rakai and later joins Lake Mburo. (The Monitor 2011 8th August) Rwizi was always a beautiful river that brought pride to the people in the area due to its sky blue waters and the purposes they served. However, because of poor farming practices and encroachment on its vegetation, Rwizi River has been drying up and water turning brown. (http://mugira.blogspot.com/2008/02/poor-farming-methods-polluting-water-in.html, February 23, 2008) Urban rivers, streams and wetlands are susceptible to pollution and so, River Rwizi faces a similar problem. This river is a source of water for domestic, industrial and agricultural activities for Mbarara municipality and its environs but; due to poor waste management, proliferation of motor garages, washing bays, hotels, hospitals, schools and industrial setups, its water quality could have got compromised. Ugandan lakes and rivers like other water bodies face a threat of pollution due to increasing human population, urbanization, industrialization and agricultural modernization (Joensuu 1996). There are concerted efforts by government to reduce water pollution and they include the establishment of the Directorate of Water Development under Ministry of Water and Environment which is the principle agency of government charged with the responsibility for water resources management and the provision of water supplies in rural and urban centres, The mandate of National Water Sewarage Corporation (NWSC) is to operate and provide water and sewerage services in areas entrusted to it by the Water Act, 1995 and the

NWSC Act, Cap 150, National Environment Management Authority (NEMA), District Environment Offices, Natural Resources Management personnel, among others. Government also formulated policies and regulations to guide rational use of water resources in order to achieve sustainable water quality and quantity. Such policies and regulations include: the Water Statute 1995, which provides the framework for the use, protection and management of water resources and water supply, the National Water Policy, 1999, The Water Resources Regulations, 1998 and the Waste Water Discharge Regulations, 1998 which prescribe the threshold and procedure for applications to construct any waterworks. However there are still many challenges including lack of human capacity, inadequate facilitation and inter-institutional coordination in order to handle the associated environmental problems. (http://www.ru.ac.za/static/institutes/iwr/SANCIAHS/2011/the.pdffiles/EK_Muhumuza_Paper.p df Muhumuza Elias Kaburuku) In spite of the fact that the government and other stake holders have put too much effort in restoring river rwiizi and its ecosystem, little or nothing has been done to determine the negative health impacts that come with changes in the environment and in this case river rwiizi. Vectors of medical importance that are associated with running waters (rivers) and vegetation along the rivers include; Black flies (Simulium) that transmit the parasite that causes river blindness, mosquitoes which transmit different parasites and viruses that cause a variety of diseases among them malaria, hydrocoel, Dengue etc, and Tse tse flies (Glossina) that carries parasites responsible for sleeping sickness in humans, house flies can also be found. (parasitology and vector biology)

Hence its always important to find out common vectors of medical importance along some water bodies so that the risks can be determined and locals are advised accordingly.

Statement of the problem. Thousands of people in at least five districts in southwestern region could be headed for a disastrous future unless quick intervention is made to the ever decreasing water levels of River Rwizi. This is due to the local people encroachment on its vegetation and poor cultivation practices that drains soils during rainy seasons into the river. The above problem has not only affected river Rwizi but also the biodiversity that relies on the river and vegetation around it. Despite of all the above little is known about the link between the biological diversity, pollution and encroachment of river Rwizi and human health. Therefore the proposed study would like to determine the common vectors of medical importance that are associated with river Rwizi and the ecosystem along it. Justification of the study River Rwizi is inadequately surveyed in terms of vectors of medical importance that are associated with river Rwizi ecosystem. This study aims at identifying the common vectors of medical importance along River Rwizi and assesses disease risks that can be transmitted by these vectors.

Once this baseline data has been collected, it will help the authorities to establish means to prevent and control these vectors so that disease out breaks associated with these vectors are minimized. Objectives of the study Broad objective To determine vectors of medical importance associated with River Rwizi and its surrounding ecosystem in different seasons. Specific objectives To identify vectors of medical importance commonly associated with River Rwizi in dry and wet season. To provide baseline data of vectors of medical importance associated with River Rwizi To establish which area along River Rwizi is commonly affected by these vectors To determine which season has high population of vectors of medical importance

Literature review Of the incredible variety of insects inhabiting the earth, most of them are harmless to man. Unfortunately, a few insects are responsible for the spread of diseases, some of which are potentially fatal. Others inflict untold misery by their irritating bites. (http://www.cttmkenya.com/docs/insects.pdf) MOSQUITOES Mosquitoes are found nearly everywhere in the world. They are equipped with a needle-like mouthpart, the proboscis, to suck up their food. Male mosquitoes only feed on plant juices but the females must suck blood. Several species feed exclusively on human blood and consequently become vectors of disease, transmitting disease organisms from one person to another in their quest for blood meals. In the tropics, mosquitoes transmit malaria, certain types of filariasis, yellow fever, dengue fever and some strains of viral encephalitis. Many mosquito species bite at night, such as the Anopheles genus, which spreads malaria, but the day-biting Aedesis responsible for spreading the yellow fever virus. In Asia, the Far East and Africa, some filarial worms are transmitted by mosquitoes. All along the East African coastal region, Culex and Anopheles mosquitoes carry the Wucheraria bancrofti worms from one infected person to another. The worms settle in the tissues of infected persons who may develop symptoms such as scrotal swelling in men and eventually, elephantiasis.

BLACKFLIES These small biting flies breed in water, especially fast-flowing rivers and streams, and are the only vectors of river blindness (onchocerciasis) in sub-Saharan Africa. Their method of biting differs from mosquitoes because they tear and rasp the skin with their mouthparts, creating a pool of blood which they can then suck up. The microscopic larvae of the Onchocerca worms live in human skin and are picked up from an infected person by the biting flies. The tiny worms develop in the black fly and migrate back to the mouth parts from where they can infect a new person. The infection is commonest in West and Central Africa, where the most serious symptom of the disease is blindness. TSETSE AND TABANID FLIES Tsetse flies only occur in sub-Saharan Africa where they are the vectors of human and animal trypanosomiasis. The human disease is known as sleeping sickness. The adult Tsetse fly is a bit larger than a housefly and is recognized by its scissor-like wings and its long, forward-pointing proboscis. Typically the flies are attracted to dark, moving objects, making them quite a pest on safaris in some African parks. The chronic form of sleeping sickness occurs in West Africa and the patient can waste away over a period of many years before death occurs. The East African species of trypanosomiasis very rare nowadays with limited distribution but is potentially much more virulent than the West African type. It maintains a reservoir of infection in wild animals, mainly antelope-type species. The day-biting Chrysopsis a Tabanid fly about the same size as a tsetse fly. In the forested regions of central Africa its bite can infect a person with a filarial worm called Loa loa, which migrates through the tissues under the skin, and may even cross the eye. An infected person experiences intense itching and swellings (Calabar swellings).

SANDFLIES AND MIDGES Sand flies are tiny, hairy flies with tent-like wings, which prefer semi-arid regions, breeding in leaf litter, termite mounds and other moist microhabitats. They bite visitors to such areas, such as boys herding cattle, and transmit a disease called leishmaniasis. The visceral type, otherwise known as kala azar, invades the spleen and over a period of time leads to death if untreated. The cutaneous form develops as a defined and often disfiguring sore on the skin. Leishmaniasis occurs in Africa and South America. Midges constitute a biting nuisance in many parts of the world, usually in the warmer season. They can bite in swarms, especially targeting the face, thus ruining many a camping trip, tiny though they are. Some species of midge can also transmit some fairly harmless species of filarial worms in both Africa and South America. FLEAS Flea bites are some of the most irritating of all. Although there is a human flea, humans can also be bitten by cat, dog and rat fleas, among others. The rat flea carries the deadly plague bacteria, Yersinia pestis. Outbreaks of plague still occur today, mainly in crowded slum conditions where rats, fleas and man share the same habitat. Fleas can also transmit murine typhus, which usually leads to rashes and fever. Accidental swallowing of dog or cat fleas can result in certain tapeworm infections, including the dog tapeworm. This is especially so if young children fondle their pets too closely. The jiggerflea, Tunga, is famous for the localised itching it causes. The female burrows into the skin from where she lays her eggs. During this process she swells up and remains embedded in her host after death. Jiggers are still common in the rural tropics where people rarely wear

shoes, exposing their toes to the fleas. LICE Of the three types of human lice only body lice can transmit disease, whereas head lice and pubic lice cause misery from their itchy bites. Body lice proliferate in famine and war situations, where people are unlikely to wash or change their clothes frequently. Street children are often plagued by body lice, which live in the seams of clothing, only leaving the cloth to have a blood meal on the host. Body lice act as vectors of epidemic typhus and Trench fever, which are not transmitted to man by the bite of the louse but through the louse faeces. BEDBUGS AND OTHER BUGS Bedbugs are familiar to schoolchildren and students who reside in dormitories where furniture and mattresses have not been changed for a long time. These flat, secretive insects live in cracks of furniture and seams of mattresses, crawling out at night to feed on the blood of their sleeping victims. Fortunately, they do not transmit disease, but they bite persistently, sometimes to the extent of causing anaemia. Reduuvid bugs belong to the same order of insects as bedbugs and in South America, transmit Chagas disease, another type of trypanosomiasis, through their infected faeces. OTHER FLIES Some flies belonging to the same class of insects as houseflies, are called myiasis flies. The Tumbu or Mango fly likes to lay its eggs in clothing left out to dry on the grass and if the clothes are not ironed, each egg hatches into a larva, which burrows into the skin and forms a boil. The developing larva eventually emerges but not before causing pain and irritation. More rarely, some fly larvae suck blood (the Congo floor maggot) while others feed on deeper tissues, especially if they find a wound or soft skin through which they can burrow.

Methodology Area of the study The study will cover River Rwizi from the border of municipality with Ruti up to the bridge that connects Kashari County (forest reserve) and Isingiro district. The topographical details of the selected sites are as follows: 1. Ngaromwenda bridge; I selected this place because there is water treatment plant as well as enough vegetation which is somehow undisturbed 2. Between behind MUST and Katete; This place has a lot of farming, soil erosion as well as encroachment on the river 3. Mbarara Municipal Council and Katete main bridge; Apart from soil erosion that takes place there, theres a lot human activities like farming, washing of vehicles and bathing and swimming 4. Near Rugazi sewage treatment Plant; The treatment drains into the river and across the treatment plant theres a beach hotel 5. Kashari County and Isingiro Bridge; Around this place there is cattle grazing Time of the study The study will be carried out from August to February Study design Longitudinal and random sampling

Study population All vectors will be trapped and only those of medical importance will be considered for this study Specimen collection Vectors will be collected using light traps, baited traps as well as mosquito traps. Then the trapped insects will be preserved and transported to the laboratory for phenotypic identification. Performance of testing Light microscope will used to identify and confirm the vectors Ethical consideration The permission will be sought from MUST research ethics committee, Mbarara municipality authorities and district NEMA office Data analysis The results obtained will be analyzed with the help of Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS). Descriptive analysis to find mean readings, and correlation statistics will be performed with the help of contingency coefficient. http://www.gov.ns.ca/nse/pests/docs/mosquito_2_pest.pdf