Vector competence of Culex antennatus and Anopheles coustani mosquitoes for Rift Valley fever virus in Madagascar |
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| Authors: | T. N. J. J. NEPOMICHENE F. N. RAHARIMALALA S. F. ANDRIAMANDIMBY J.‐P. RAVALOHERY A.‐B. FAILLOUX S. BOYER |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Unit of Medical Entomology, Institut Pasteur de Madagascar, Antananarivo, Madagascar;2. Ecole Doctorale Science de la Vie et de l'Environnement, Université d'Antananarivo, Antananarivo, Madagascar;3. Unit of Virology, Institut Pasteur de Madagascar, Antananarivo, Madagascar;4. Department of Virology, Arboviruses and Insect Vectors, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France |
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| Abstract: | Culex antennatus (Diptera: Culicidae), Anopheles coustani (Diptera: Culicidae) and Anopheles squamosus/cydippis were found to be infected with Rift Valley fever virus (RVFV) during an epidemic that occurred in 2008 and 2009 in Madagascar. To understand the roles played by Cx. antennatus and An. coustani in virus maintenance and transmission, RVFV vector competence was assessed in each species. Mosquito body parts and saliva of mosquitoes that fed on RVFV‐infected blood were tested for RVFV using real‐time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT‐qPCR) assays. Overall, viral RNA was detected in body parts and saliva at 5 days post‐infection (d.p.i.) in both species. At 5 d.p.i., infection rates were 12.5% (3/24) and 15.8% (6/38), disseminated infection rates were 100% (3/3) and 100% (6/6), transmission rates were 33.3% (1/3) and 83.3% (5/6), and transmission efficiencies were 4.2% (1/24) and 13.2% (5/38) in Cx. antennatus and An. coustani, respectively. Although RVFV detected in saliva did not propagate on to Vero cells, these results support potential roles for these two mosquito species in the transmission of RVFV. |
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| Keywords: | Risk assessment arboviruses emergence Madagascar |
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