Detection of Culex flavivirus and Aedes flavivirus nucleotide sequences in mosquitoes from parks in the city of Sao Paulo, Brazil

Author(s)

Fernandes, Licia Natal ^[1] ; de Paula, Marcia Bicudo ^[2] ; Araujo, Alessandra Bergamo ^[3] ; Bertoletti Goncalves, Elisabeth Fernandes ^[4] ; Romano, Camila Malta ^[5] ; Natal, Delsio ^[2] ; Malafronte, Rosely dos Santos ^[1] ; Marrelli, Mauro Toledo ^[2] ; Levi, Jose Eduardo ^{[5, 6]}

Affiliation

^[1] Univ Sao Paulo, Inst Med Trop Sao Paulo, Lab Protozool, Av Dr Eneas de Carvalho Aguiar 470, BR-05403000 Sao Paulo, SP - Brazil

^[2] Univ Sao Paulo, Fac Saude Publ, Dept Epidemiol, Av Dr Arnaldo 715, BR-01246904 Sao Paulo, SP - Brazil

^[3] Prefeitura Sao Paulo, Ctr Controle Zoonoses, Lab Fauna Sinantrop, Rua Santa Eulalia 86, BR-02031020 Sao Paulo, SP - Brazil

^[4] Prefeitura Sao Paulo, Dept Parques & Areas Verdes, Ave 4 Centenario, BR-04030090 Sao Paulo, SP - Brazil

^[5] Univ Sao Paulo, Inst Med Trop Sao Paulo, Virol Lab, Av Dr Eneas de Carvalho Aguiar 470, BR-05403000 Sao Paulo, SP - Brazil

^[6] Fundacao Prosangue, Hemoctr Sao Paulo, Dept Biol Mol, Av Dr Eneas de Carvalho Aguiar 155, BR-05403000 Sao Paulo, SP - Brazil

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: Acta Tropica; v. 157, p. 73-83, MAY 2016.
• Web of Science Citations: 6

Abstract

The dengue viruses are widespread in Brazil and are a major public health concern. Other flaviviruses also cause diseases in humans, although on a smaller scale. The city of Sao Paulo is in a highly urbanized area with few green spaces apart from its parks, which are used for recreation and where potential vertebrate hosts and mosquito vectors of pathogenic Flavivirus species can be found. Although this scenario can contribute to the transmission of Flavivirus to humans, little is known about the circulation of members of this genus in these areas. In light of this, the present study sought to identify Flavivirus infection in mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) collected in parks in the city of Sao Paulo. Seven parks in different sectors of the city were selected. Monthly mosquito collections were carried out in each park from March 2011 to February 2012 using aspiration and traps (Shannon and CD C-CO2). Nucleic acids were extracted from the mosquitoes collected and used for reverse-transcriptase and real-time polymerase chain reactions with genus-specific primers targeting a 200-nucleotide region in the Flavivirus NS5 gene. Positive samples were sequenced, and phylogenetic analyses were performed. Culex and Aedes were the most frequent genera of Culicidae collected. Culex flavivirus (CxFV)-related and Aedes flavivirus (AEFV)- related nucleotide sequences were detected in 17 pools of Culex and two pools of Aedes mosquitoes, respectively, among the 818 pools of non-engorged females analyzed. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of CxFV and AEFV in the city of Sao Paulo and Latin America, respectively. Both viruses are insect- specific flaviviruses, a group known to replicate only in mosquito cells and induce a cytopathic effect in some situations. Hence, our data suggests that CxFV and AEFV are present in Culex and Aedes mosquitoes, respectively, in parks in the city of Sao Paulo. Even though Flavivirus species of medical importance were not detected, surveillance is recommended in the study areas because of the presence of vertebrates and mosquitoes that could act as amplifying hosts and vectors of flaviviruses, providing the required conditions for circulation of these viruses. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 10/51230-8 - Biodiversity of mosquitoes (Diptera : Culicidae) in the city of São Paulo municipal parks
• Grantee: Mauro Toledo Marrelli
• Support type: BIOTA-FAPESP Program - Regular Research Grants