Vector competence of Aedes aegypti, Aedes albopictus, and Culex quinquefasciatus mosquitoes for Mayaro virus

Thiago Nunes Pereira; Fabiano Duarte Carvalho; Silvana Faria De Mendonça; Marcele Neves Rocha; Luciano Andrade Moreira

doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0007518

Vector competence of Aedes aegypti, Aedes albopictus, and Culex quinquefasciatus mosquitoes for Mayaro virus

PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2020 Apr 14;14(4):e0007518. doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0007518. eCollection 2020 Apr.

Authors

Thiago Nunes Pereira¹, Fabiano Duarte Carvalho¹, Silvana Faria De Mendonça¹, Marcele Neves Rocha¹, Luciano Andrade Moreira¹

Affiliation

¹ Grupo Mosquitos Vetores: Endossimbiontes e Interação Patógeno-Vetor, Instituto René Rachou-Fiocruz, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil.

Abstract

Newly emerging or re-emerging arthropod-borne viruses (arboviruses) are important causes of human morbidity and mortality worldwide. Arboviruses such as Dengue (DENV), Zika (ZIKV), Chikungunya (CHIKV), and West Nile virus (WNV) have undergone extensive geographic expansion in the tropical and sub-tropical regions of the world. In the Americas the main vectors of DENV, ZIKV, and CHIKV are mosquito species adapted to urban environments, namely Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus, whereas the main vector of WNV is Culex quinquefasciatus. Given the widespread distribution in the Americas and high permissiveness to arbovirus infection, these mosquito species may play a key role in the epidemiology of other arboviruses normally associated with sylvatic vectors. Here, we test this hypothesis by determining the vector competence of Ae. aegypti, Ae. albopictus, and Cx. quinquefasciatus to Mayaro (MAYV) virus, a sylvatic arbovirus transmitted mainly by Haemagogus janthinomys that has been causing an increasing number of outbreaks in South America, namely in Brazil. Using field mosquitoes from Brazil, female mosquitoes were experimentally infected, and their competence for infection and transmission rates of MAYV was evaluated. We found consistent infection rate for MAYV in Ae. aegypti (57.5%) and Ae. albopictus (61.6%), whereas very low rates were obtained for Cx. quinquefasciatus (2.5%). Concordantly, we observed high potential transmission ability in Ae. aegypti and Ae. albopictus (69.5% and 71.1% respectively), in contrast to Cx. quinquefasciatus, which could not transmit the MAYV. Notably, we found that very low quantities of virus present in the saliva (undetectable by RT-qPCR) were sufficiently virulent to guarantee transmission. Although Ae. aegypti and Ae. albopictus mosquitoes are not the main vectors for MAYV, our studies suggest that these mosquitoes could play a significant role in the transmission of this arbovirus, since both species showed significant vector competence for MAYV (Genotype D), under laboratory conditions.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Aedes / virology*
Alphavirus / genetics
Alphavirus / growth & development
Alphavirus / isolation & purification*
Alphavirus Infections / transmission
Alphavirus Infections / virology*
Animals
Brazil
Culex / virology*
Disease Transmission, Infectious*
Female
Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction
Saliva / virology
Viral Load

Grants and funding

This study was financed in part by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior – Brasil (CAPES) – Finance Code 001, FAPEMIG, CNPq (LAM) and, indirectly, by the World Mosquito Program. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.