Detection and isolation of Flavivirus in mosquitoes (Diptera:Culicidae) from a remaining Atlantic Forest located in the city of São Paulo, SP.

• Grant number: 23/09016-9
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: September 01, 2023
• End date: January 31, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Collective Health - Public Health
• Principal Investigator: Licia Natal Fernandes
• Grantee: Maria Júlia Paeró Ferrari
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Medicina (FM). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Among the arboviruses that occur in Brazil, flaviviruses stand out due to the large number of epidemics caused, such as those caused by dengue, yellow fever and Zika viruses. In addition to the medically important flaviviruses, there is also the group of insect-specific flaviviruses (ISFs), which do not replicate in mammalian cells and do not have a clear definition of their role in the dynamics of transmission of pathogenic flaviviruses to humans. The city of São Paulo is part of a large urban network, with the focus of this study being the Tietê Ecological Park, which is part of the Cinturão Verde de São Paulo Biosphere Reserve, is home to several species of fauna and flora, has a high circulation of people and, therefore, meets the necessary conditions for the circulation of flaviviruses. In this location, the Ilhéus flavivirus has already been isolated from a bird, in addition to species of mosquitoes potentially vectoring flaviviruses having been found and in which ISFs have already been detected. The present work is part of a larger project that aims to elucidate the role of ISFs in the circulation of flaviviruses of medical importance, so that, in addition to seeking to know the flaviviruses of medical importance possibly circulating in the study region, it will also focus on the detection of flaviviruses specific insects and in the detection of mosquitoes co-infected by these two groups of flaviviruses. For this, mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) will be collected monthly for a period of nine months in the Tietê Ecological Park. These will be taken to the laboratory and identified at the species level and subjected to RNA extraction, reverse transcription and real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) techniques for flavivirus detection. The products obtained from the PCR will be sent for nucleotide sequencing. Mosquito samples positive for flavivirus will be sent for viral isolation. In this way, we intend to generate data on circulating flaviviruses in the locality in question, such as distribution, frequency, specificity to a given host, collecting data that make it possible to infer about the role of ISFs in the transmission of medically important flaviviruses. Furthermore, the isolated flaviviruses will be used in future studies by our research group.