DOI: 10.3390/pathogens12070967 ISSN: 2076-0817

Analyses of Mosquito Species Composition, Blood-Feeding Habits and Infection with Insect-Specific Flaviviruses in Two Arid, Pastoralist-Dominated Counties in Kenya

Edwin O. Ogola, Armanda D. S. Bastos, Gilbert Rotich, Anne Kopp, Inga Slothouwer, Dorcus C. A. Omoga, Rosemary Sang, Baldwyn Torto, Sandra Junglen, David P. Tchouassi
  • Infectious Diseases
  • Microbiology (medical)
  • General Immunology and Microbiology
  • Molecular Biology
  • Immunology and Allergy

Insect-specific flaviviruses (ISFs), although not known to be pathogenic to humans and animals, can modulate the transmission of arboviruses by mosquitoes. In this study, we screened 6665 host-seeking, gravid and blood-fed mosquitoes for infection with flaviviruses and assessed the vertebrate hosts of the blood-fed mosquitoes sampled in Baringo and Kajiado counties; both dryland ecosystem counties in the Kenyan Rift Valley. Sequence fragments of two ISFs were detected. Cuacua virus (CuCuV) was found in three blood-fed Mansonia (Ma.) africana. The genome was sequenced by next-generation sequencing (NGS), confirming 95.8% nucleotide sequence identity to CuCuV detected in Mansonia sp. in Mozambique. Sequence fragments of a potential novel ISF showing nucleotide identity of 72% to Aedes flavivirus virus were detected in individual blood-fed Aedes aegypti, Anopheles gambiae s.l., Ma. africana and Culex (Cx.) univittatus, all having fed on human blood. Blood-meal analysis revealed that the collected mosquitoes fed on diverse hosts, primarily humans and livestock, with a minor representation of wild mammals, amphibians and birds. The potential impact of the detected ISFs on arbovirus transmission requires further research.

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