Abstract
BackgroundMosquito-borne diseases involving arboviruses represent expanding threats to sub-Saharan Africa imposing as considerable burden to human and veterinary public health. In Mozambique over one hundred species of potential arbovirus mosquito vectors have been identified, although their precise role in maintaining such viruses in circulation in the country remains to be elucidated. The aim of this study was to screen for the presence of flaviviruses, alphaviruses and bunyaviruses in mosquitoes from different regions of Mozambique.ResultsOur survey analyzed 14,519 mosquitoes, and the results obtained revealed genetically distinct insect-specific flaviviruses, detected in multiple species of mosquitoes from different genera. In addition, smaller flavivirus-like NS5 sequences, frequently detected in Mansonia seemed to correspond to defective viral sequences, present as viral DNA forms. Furthermore, three lineages of putative members of the Phenuiviridae family were also detected, two of which apparently corresponding to novel viral genetic lineages.ConclusionThis study reports for the first-time novel insect-specific flaviviruses and novel phenuiviruses, as well as frequent flavivirus-like viral DNA forms in several widely known vector species. This unique work represents recent investigation of virus screening conducted in mosquitoes from Mozambique and an important contribution to inform the establishment of a vector control program for arbovirus in the country and in the region.
Highlights
Mosquito-borne diseases involving arboviruses represent expanding threats to sub-Saharan Africa imposing as considerable burden to human and veterinary public health
Vector-borne diseases caused by arboviruses such as the Rift Valley fever, dengue, chikungunya, Zika, or West Nile viruses (RVFV, CHIKV, DENV, ZIKV and WNV, respectively), represent emerging and expanding threats in sub-Saharan Africa, and remain a major burden to global health, despite increasing funding allocated for their control and eradication [1]
Analysis of flavivirus sequences The genomes of flaviviruses were targeted using the primers previously described by Vázquez et al, (2012), which reveal an amplicon with the expected mass of ≈1 kbp [that on the Culex flavivirus strain CxFV-Mex07 reference sequence (EU879060) would define a section of the viral genome from coordinates 9800 to 9901] in the complementary DNA (cDNA) extracts prepared from 45/351 pools (12.8%)
Summary
Mosquito-borne diseases involving arboviruses represent expanding threats to sub-Saharan Africa imposing as considerable burden to human and veterinary public health. Our knowledge of the diversity of the viral world has significantly expanded over the last decade During this period, a large number of studies have shown that viruses are the most abundant biological entities on the planet and display a remarkable degree of genetic diversity and genomic plasticity [4, 5], and have allowed us to bridge apparent phylogenetic gaps in the virosphere. A large number of studies have shown that viruses are the most abundant biological entities on the planet and display a remarkable degree of genetic diversity and genomic plasticity [4, 5], and have allowed us to bridge apparent phylogenetic gaps in the virosphere This is especially true when viral surveys focus on rarely sampled taxa or infrequently visited biotopes, and revealing novel or divergent viral groups [6,7,8,9,10]. Since there is limited knowledge on the genetic diversity, and ecology, of viruses in their natural enzootic maintenance cycles, little is known regarding the adaptive constraints ruling the evolutionary steps that determine arbovirus emergence from their sylvatic niches [15]
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