Entomo-virological surveillance of Flavivirus in mosquitoes in Yucatan State, Mexico

The genus Flavivirus (Family: Flaviviridae) comprises arboviruses with the capacity to infect humans and animals. It also integrates insect-specific viruses. This study aimed to identify Flavivirus in mosquitoes captured in 17 municipalities in Yucatan State, Mexico. The mosquitoes were caught in ho...

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Published in:Revista do Instituto de Medicina Tropical de São Paulo 2024-01, Vol.66, p.e56
Main Authors: Argaez-Sierra, Diana Guadalupe, Baak-Baak, Carlos Marcial, Garcia-Rejon, Julian E, Cetina-Trejo, Rosa Carmina, Tzuc-Dzul, Julio C, Acosta-Viana, Karla Y, Chan-Perez, José I, Cigarroa-Toledo, Nohemi
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Culex - virology
Culicidae - virology
Female
Flavivirus - classification
Flavivirus - genetics
Flavivirus - isolation & purification
Mexico
Mosquito Vectors - virology
Original
Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
RNA, Viral - analysis
RNA, Viral - genetics
TROPICAL MEDICINE
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Summary:The genus Flavivirus (Family: Flaviviridae) comprises arboviruses with the capacity to infect humans and animals. It also integrates insect-specific viruses. This study aimed to identify Flavivirus in mosquitoes captured in 17 municipalities in Yucatan State, Mexico. The mosquitoes were caught in households from November 2021 to May 2022. A total of 4,321 adult mosquitoes from five species were caught. The most abundant were Culex quinquefasciatus (n = 3,563) and Aedes aegypti (n = 734). For molecular investigations, 600 female mosquitoes were split into groups of 10, mostly for species and site location. Reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) amplified a region of the NS5 gene to find the Flavivirus ribonucleic acids (RNA). A total of 24 pools that were positive for Flavivirus were detected in Ae. aegypti specimens and subsequently subjected to sequencing using the Sanger method. A total of 12 sequences matched the established quality criteria and were subsequently employed for sequence homology analysis. We found that one sequence corresponded to the Zika virus (ZIKV), and 11 sequences had sequence similarity with Phlebotomus-associated flavivirus (PAFV), an insect-specific virus (ISF). In conclusion, we found ZIKV in the Merida municipality, Yucatan State, which suggests that the virus is silently circulating. Phlebotomus-associated flavivirus is distributed in five municipalities in Yucatan State, Mexico. Future studies could focus on isolating this virus and studying its biological role within Ae. aegypti.
ISSN:1678-9946
0036-4665
1678-9946
DOI:10.1590/S1678-9946202466056