Abstract
Simple SummaryWe screened Aedes mosquitoes in an urban area in southeastern Brazil for emerging arboviruses using RT-PCR assays and sequencing. We detected DENV-2 RNA in Aedes albopictus and Guadeloupe mosquito virus RNA in Aedes aegypti.In 2018–2019, we conducted mosquito collections in a municipal vehicle impound yard, which is 10 km from the Serra do Mar Environmental Protection Area in Santo André, SP, Brazil. Our aim is to study arboviruses in the impound yard, to understand the transmission of arboviruses in an urban environment in Brazil. We captured the mosquitoes using human-landing catches and processed them for arbovirus detection by conventional and quantitative RT-PCR assays. We captured two mosquito species, Aedes aegypti (73 total specimens; 18 females and 55 males) and Ae. albopictus (34 specimens; 27 females and 7 males). The minimum infection rate for DENV-2 was 11.5 per 1000 (CI95%: 1–33.9). The detection of DENV-2 RNA in an Ae. albopictus female suggests that this virus might occur in high infection rates in the sampled mosquito population and is endemic in the urban areas of Santo André. In addition, Guadeloupe mosquito virus RNA was detected in an Ae. aegypti female. To our knowledge, this was the first detection of the Guadeloupe mosquito virus in Brazil.
Highlights
The transmission dynamics of arboviruses of public health importance are currently not well understood in urban areas of Brazil [1,2,3]
Santo André is an industrial municipality within the metropolitan region of São
DENV has been endemic to this area since the 2000s [23]; in addition, CHIKV, ZIKV, and yellow fever virus (YFV) have recently been detected in the region [4,31,32]
Summary
The transmission dynamics of arboviruses of public health importance are currently not well understood in urban areas of Brazil [1,2,3]. Human land-use activities bring humans into close contact with the sylvatic vectors, which may lead to spillover events in both humans and domestic animals [10,11]. This was what public health authorities were afraid of during the yellow fever (YF) outbreak, which lasted from 2016 to 2019 in Brazil [12]. This outbreak was caused by mutant strains of yellow fever virus (YFV) (Family Flaviviridae, Genus Flavivirus) [13]. Aedes (Stegomyia) aegypti (L.) has not shown competence to transmit these strains, which would have led to urban YF [14]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
