Abstract
BackgroundChikungunya virus (CHIKV) has dispersed in the Americas since 2013, and its range of distribution has overlapped large forested areas. Herein, we assess vector competence of two sylvatic Neotropical mosquito species, Haemagogus leucocelaenus and Aedes terrens, to evaluate the risk of CHIKV to initiate a sylvatic cycle in the continent.Methodology/Principal findingsHaemagogus leucocelaenus and Ae. terrens from the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil were orally challenged with the two CHIKV lineages circulating in the Americas. Fully engorged females were kept in incubators at 28±1°C and 70±10% humidity and examined at 3 and 7 days after virus exposure. Body (thorax plus abdomen), head and saliva samples were analyzed for respectively determining infection, dissemination and transmission. Both Hg. leucocelaenus and Ae. terrens exhibited high infection and dissemination rates with both CHIKV isolates at 7 dpi, demonstrating that they are susceptible to CHIKV, regardless of the lineage. Remarkably, Hg. leucocelaenus expectorated infectious viral particles as rapidly as 3 days after the infectious blood meal, displaying higher values of transmission rate and efficiency than Ae. terrens. Nevertheless, both species were competent to experimentally transmit both CHIKV genotypes, exhibiting vector competence similar to several American Aedes aegypti.Conclusions/SignificanceThese results point out the high risk for CHIKV to establish a sylvatic transmission cycle in the Americas, which could be a serious health issue as CHIKV would become another zoonotic infection difficult to control in the continent.
Highlights
Several arboviruses of public health importance such as yellow fever virus (YFV), Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) and, more recently, Zika virus have spread from Africa to other continents
Chikungunya is a mosquito-borne-viral disease of African origin that has spread in the Americas since its first detection in 2013
We experimentally demonstrated that two widely distributed American sylvatic primatophilic mosquito species, Haemagogus leucocelaenus and Aedes terrens, are highly susceptible and competent to transmit the two CHIKV lineages currently circulating in the continent, 7 days after an infectious blood meal, Hg. leucocelaenus mosquitoes presenting infectious viral particles in their saliva as rapidly as 3 days exposure
Summary
Several arboviruses of public health importance such as yellow fever virus (YFV), Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) and, more recently, Zika virus have spread from Africa to other continents. In their historical cradle in Africa, these arboviruses are transmitted between non-human primates (NHP) by Aedes mosquitoes, mostly belonging to the Old World Stegomyia and Diceromyia subgenera [1]. Synanthropic and anthropophilic behavior of Ae. aegypti, these arboviruses exploit urban and periurban ecosystems limiting transmission between Ae. aegypti and humans, originally in Africa and the secondarily invaded continents such as Asia and the Americas [1, 2]. We assess vector competence of two sylvatic Neotropical mosquito species, Haemagogus leucocelaenus and Aedes terrens, to evaluate the risk of CHIKV to initiate a sylvatic cycle in the continent
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