Abstract
Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) was first reported in Brazil in 2014 and, after it spread countrywide, an outbreak of febrile illness with reports of arthralgia happened in the municipality of Xinguara, Pará, Brazil in 2017, indicating the virus’ circulation. Here, we aimed to investigate CHIKV in mosquito vectors collected during an active surveillance of virus isolation in cell culture by using molecular detection and viral genome sequencing. A total of 492 Aedes, Culex and Mansonia mosquitoes were collected and separated in 36 pools according to the species and sex, and 22.2% (8/36) were positive. CHIKV was indentified in pools of Ae. aegypti females (n = 5), an Ae. aegypti male (n = 1) and in Culex quinquefasciatus females (n = 2). However, as the mosquitoes’ whole bodies were macerated and used for detection, one cannot suggest the role of the latter in the viral transmission. Despite this, vector competence studies must be carried out in the different species to investigate long-term adaptations. Viral genome sequencing has characterized the East-Central-South-African (ECSA) genotype in all positive pools analyzed, corroborating previous reports for the Amazon region.
Highlights
Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) is a single-strand RNA virus belonging to the Togaviridae family, of the Alphavirus genus, transmitted by mosquitoes and often causing an acute febrile illness accompanied by severe and debilitating arthralgia in human-chikungunya fever [1]
We identified CHIKV in Ae. aegypti and Cx. quinquefasciatus, confirming that virus circulation took place during an outbreak in the municipality of Xinguara, Pará in 2017
Ae. aegypti mosquitoes are a worldwide recognized vector for CHIKV and, in Brazil, female mosquitoes of the same species have already been found naturally infected in the states of Sergipe [38] and Maranhão [39,40], both in the Northeast region of the country
Summary
Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) is a single-strand RNA virus belonging to the Togaviridae family, of the Alphavirus genus, transmitted by mosquitoes and often causing an acute febrile illness accompanied by severe and debilitating arthralgia in human-chikungunya fever [1]. CHIKV caused massive and sustained outbreaks in Asia and Africa between the 1960s and 1980s After this period, there was a decrease in the number of cases, until 2004, when an epidemic was reported in Kenya, Africa, resulting in the occurrence of outbreaks in both the aforementioned continents [2,3]. Viruses 2020, 12, 853 following year, Brazil confirmed the first autochthonous cases in Oiapoque, state of Amapá, the North region, and Feira de Santana, of Bahia, the Northeast region [5] and soon, the virus spread nationwide in the following years, resulting in epidemics in 2016 and 2017 [6,7]. The two genotypes remain co-circulating in the country and are the only ones reported so far
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