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Jobe NB, Franz NM, Johnston MA, Malone AB, Ruberto I, Townsend J, Will JB, Yule KM, Paaijmans KP. The Mosquito Fauna of Arizona: Species Composition and Public Health Implications. INSECTS 2024; 15:432. [PMID: 38921147 PMCID: PMC11203593 DOI: 10.3390/insects15060432] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/07/2024] [Revised: 05/26/2024] [Accepted: 05/29/2024] [Indexed: 06/27/2024]
Abstract
Arizona is home to many mosquito species, some of which are known vectors of infectious diseases that harm both humans and animals. Here, we provide an overview of the 56 mosquito species that have been identified in the State to date, but also discuss their known feeding preference and the diseases they can (potentially) transmit to humans and animals. This list is unlikely to be complete for several reasons: (i) Arizona's mosquitoes are not systematically surveyed in many areas, (ii) surveillance efforts often target specific species of interest, and (iii) doubts have been raised by one or more scientists about the accuracy of some collection records, which has been noted in this article. There needs to be an integrated and multifaceted surveillance approach that involves entomologists and epidemiologists, but also social scientists, wildlife ecologists, ornithologists, representatives from the agricultural department, and irrigation and drainage districts. This will allow public health officials to (i) monitor changes in current mosquito species diversity and abundance, (ii) monitor the introduction of new or invasive species, (iii) identify locations or specific populations that are more at risk for mosquito-borne diseases, and (iv) effectively guide vector control.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ndey Bassin Jobe
- The Center for Evolution & Medicine, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85281, USA; (N.B.J.); (A.B.M.)
- School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85281, USA;
| | - Nico M. Franz
- School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85281, USA;
| | - Murray A. Johnston
- Department of Entomology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA;
| | - Adele B. Malone
- The Center for Evolution & Medicine, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85281, USA; (N.B.J.); (A.B.M.)
- School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85281, USA;
- Vector Control Division, Maricopa County Environmental Services Department, Phoenix, AZ 85009, USA; (J.T.); (J.B.W.)
| | - Irene Ruberto
- Arizona Department of Health Services, Phoenix, AZ 85007, USA;
| | - John Townsend
- Vector Control Division, Maricopa County Environmental Services Department, Phoenix, AZ 85009, USA; (J.T.); (J.B.W.)
| | - James B. Will
- Vector Control Division, Maricopa County Environmental Services Department, Phoenix, AZ 85009, USA; (J.T.); (J.B.W.)
| | - Kelsey M. Yule
- Biodiversity Knowledge Integration Center, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85281, USA;
| | - Krijn P. Paaijmans
- The Center for Evolution & Medicine, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85281, USA; (N.B.J.); (A.B.M.)
- School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85281, USA;
- Simon A. Levin Mathematical, Computational and Modeling Sciences Center, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85281, USA
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Eastwood G, Goodman SJ, Cunningham AA, Kramer LD. Aedes taeniorhynchus vectorial capacity informs a pre-emptive assessment of West Nile virus establishment in Galápagos. Sci Rep 2013; 3:1519. [PMID: 23519190 PMCID: PMC3605609 DOI: 10.1038/srep01519] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2012] [Accepted: 02/14/2013] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Increased connectivity with the mainland has led to the arrival of many invasive species to the Galápagos Islands, including novel pathogens, threatening the archipelago's unique fauna. Here we consider the potential role of the mosquito Aedes taeniorhynchus in maintaining the flavivirus West Nile virus [WNV] should it reach the islands. We report on three components of vectorial capacity - vector competency, distributional abundance and host-feeding. In contrast to USA strains, Galápagos A. taeniorhynchus is a competent and efficient WNV vector, capable of transmission at 5 days post-exposure. Based on 25 blood-meals, mammalian feeding suggests a potential bridge vector role should contact with key amplification taxa occur. Vector population abundance is driven primarily by climatic factors, peaking between January and March. As a ubiquitous competent vector, A. taeniorhynchus may facilitate future WNV establishment, therefore it is vital to ensure the biosecurity of Galápagos to prevent introductions of pathogens such as WNV.
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Weaver SC, Reisen WK. Present and future arboviral threats. Antiviral Res 2010; 85:328-45. [PMID: 19857523 PMCID: PMC2815176 DOI: 10.1016/j.antiviral.2009.10.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 912] [Impact Index Per Article: 65.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/23/2009] [Revised: 10/01/2009] [Accepted: 10/16/2009] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
Arthropod-borne viruses (arboviruses) are important causes of human disease nearly worldwide. All arboviruses circulate among wild animals, and many cause disease after spillover transmission to humans and agriculturally important domestic animals that are incidental or dead-end hosts. Viruses such as dengue (DENV) and chikungunya (CHIKV) that have lost the requirement for enzootic amplification now produce extensive epidemics in tropical urban centers. Many arboviruses recently have increased in importance as human and veterinary pathogens using a variety of mechanisms. Beginning in 1999, West Nile virus (WNV) underwent a dramatic geographic expansion into the Americas. High amplification associated with avian virulence coupled with adaptation for replication at higher temperatures in mosquito vectors, has caused the largest epidemic of arboviral encephalitis ever reported in the Americas. Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV), the most frequent arboviral cause of encephalitis worldwide, has spread throughout most of Asia and as far south as Australia from its putative origin in Indonesia and Malaysia. JEV has caused major epidemics as it invaded new areas, often enabled by rice culture and amplification in domesticated swine. Rift Valley fever virus (RVFV), another arbovirus that infects humans after amplification in domesticated animals, undergoes epizootic transmission during wet years following droughts. Warming of the Indian Ocean, linked to the El Niño-Southern Oscillation in the Pacific, leads to heavy rainfall in east Africa inundating surface pools and vertically infected mosquito eggs laid during previous seasons. Like WNV, JEV and RVFV could become epizootic and epidemic in the Americas if introduced unintentionally via commerce or intentionally for nefarious purposes. Climate warming also could facilitate the expansion of the distributions of many arboviruses, as documented for bluetongue viruses (BTV), major pathogens of ruminants. BTV, especially BTV-8, invaded Europe after climate warming and enabled the major midge vector to expand is distribution northward into southern Europe, extending the transmission season and vectorial capacity of local midge species. Perhaps the greatest health risk of arboviral emergence comes from extensive tropical urbanization and the colonization of this expanding habitat by the highly anthropophilic (attracted to humans) mosquito, Aedes aegypti. These factors led to the emergence of permanent endemic cycles of urban DENV and CHIKV, as well as seasonal interhuman transmission of yellow fever virus. The recent invasion into the Americas, Europe and Africa by Aedes albopictus, an important CHIKV and secondary DENV vector, could enhance urban transmission of these viruses in tropical as well as temperate regions. The minimal requirements for sustained endemic arbovirus transmission, adequate human viremia and vector competence of Ae. aegypti and/or Ae. albopictus, may be met by two other viruses with the potential to become major human pathogens: Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus, already an important cause of neurological disease in humans and equids throughout the Americas, and Mayaro virus, a close relative of CHIKV that produces a comparably debilitating arthralgic disease in South America. Further research is needed to understand the potential of these and other arboviruses to emerge in the future, invade new geographic areas, and become important public and veterinary health problems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Scott C Weaver
- Department of Pathology and Center for Biodefense and Emerging Infectious Diseases, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX 77555-0609, USA.
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Pages N, Huber K, Cipriani M, Chevallier V, Conraths FJ, Goffredo M, Balenghien T. Scientific review on mosquitoes and mosquito‐borne diseases. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2009. [DOI: 10.2903/sp.efsa.2009.en-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Nitu Pages
- Centre de Recerca en Sanitat Animal (CReSA)
| | - Karine Huber
- Centre de Cooperation Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (CIRAD)
| | - Micaela Cipriani
- Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale dell'Abruzzo e del Molise “G. Caporale” (IZSA&M)
| | - Véronique Chevallier
- Centre de Cooperation Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (CIRAD)
| | - Franz J. Conraths
- Friedrich‐oeffler‐Institut, Federal Research Institute for Animal Health, (FLI)
| | - Maria Goffredo
- Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale dell'Abruzzo e del Molise “G. Caporale” (IZSA&M)
| | - Thomas Balenghien
- Centre de Cooperation Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (CIRAD)
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Venezuelan equine encephalitis in Panama: fatal endemic disease and genetic diversity of etiologic viral strains. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 2009; 3:e472. [PMID: 19564908 PMCID: PMC2697379 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0000472] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/16/2009] [Accepted: 05/28/2009] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Venezuelan equine encephalitis (VEE) is a reemerging, mosquito-borne viral disease of the neotropics that is severely debilitating and sometimes fatal to humans. Periodic epidemics mediated by equine amplification have been recognized since the 1920s, but interepidemic disease is rarely recognized. We report here clinical findings and genetic characterization of 42 cases of endemic VEE detected in Panama from 1961–2004. Recent clusters of cases occurred in Darien (eastern Panama) and Panama provinces (central Panama) near rainforest and swamp habitats. Patients ranged from 10 months to 48 years of age, and the more severe cases with neurological complications, including one fatal infection, were observed in children. The VEE virus strains isolated from these cases all belonged to an enzootic, subtype ID lineage known to circulate among sylvatic vectors and rodent reservoir hosts in Panama and Peru. These findings underscore endemic VEE as an important but usually neglected arboviral disease of Latin America. Venezuelan equine encephalitis (VEE) is a mosquito-borne viral disease that has caused major epidemics in many parts of Latin America and has even spread into Texas on one occasion. These epidemics result from spillover to humans of a horse-mosquito-horse amplification cycle that has occurred periodically since the 1920s. However, between these equine-mediated epidemics, little attempt is typically made to detect VEE in humans. Here, we show that VEE virus strains that typically circulate in a mosquito-rodent cycle, termed enzootic strains, also produce many cases of severe and sometimes fatal disease in Panama in the absence of apparent epidemics. These endemic infections are probably rarely detected because they are difficult to distinguish clinically from dengue fever, another mosquito-borne viral illness common in the tropics. Our findings underscore endemic VEE as an important but usually neglected arboviral disease of Latin America.
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Ortiz DI, Kang W, Weaver SC. Susceptibility of Ae. aegypti (Diptera: Culicidae) to infection with epidemic (subtype IC) and enzootic (subtypes ID, IIIC, IIID) Venezuelan equine encephalitis complex alphaviruses. JOURNAL OF MEDICAL ENTOMOLOGY 2008; 45:1117-1125. [PMID: 19058637 DOI: 10.1603/0022-2585(2008)45[1117:soaadc]2.0.co;2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/27/2023]
Abstract
To test the hypothesis that enzootic and epidemic Venezuelan equine encephalitis (VEE) complex alphaviruses can infect and be transmitted by Ae. aegypti, we conducted a series of experimental infection studies. One set of experiments tested the susceptibility of geographic strains of Ae. aegypti from Peru and Texas (U.S.A.) for epidemic (subtype IC) and enzootic (subtype ID) strains from Colombia/Venezuela, whereas the second set of experiments tested the susceptibility of Ae. aegypti from Iquitos, Peru, to enzootic VEE complex strains (subtypes ID, IIIC, and IIID) isolated in the same region, at different infectious doses. Experimental infections using artificial bloodmeals suggested that Ae. aegypti mosquitoes, particularly the strain from Iquitos, Peru, is moderately to highly susceptible to all of these VEE complex alphaviruses. The occurrence of enzootic VEE complex viruses circulating endemically in Iquitos suggests the possibility of a dengue-like transmission cycle among humans in tropical cities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Diana I Ortiz
- Center for Biodefense and Emerging Infectious Diseases, Department of Pathology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX 77555-0609, USA
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Affiliation(s)
- Edward C Holmes
- Center for Infectious Disease Dynamics, Department of Biology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA.
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Anishchenko M, Bowen RA, Paessler S, Austgen L, Greene IP, Weaver SC. Venezuelan encephalitis emergence mediated by a phylogenetically predicted viral mutation. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2006; 103:4994-9. [PMID: 16549790 PMCID: PMC1458783 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0509961103] [Citation(s) in RCA: 103] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/06/2023] Open
Abstract
RNA viruses are notorious for their genetic plasticity and propensity to exploit new host-range opportunities, which can lead to the emergence of human disease epidemics such as severe acute respiratory syndrome, AIDS, dengue, and influenza. However, the mechanisms of host-range change involved in most of these viral emergences, particularly the genetic mechanisms of adaptation to new hosts, remain poorly understood. We studied the emergence of Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus (VEEV), an alphavirus pathogen of people and equines that has had severe health and economic effects in the Americas since the early 20th century. Between epidemics, VEE disappears for periods up to decades, and the viral source of outbreaks has remained enigmatic. Combined with phylogenetic analyses to predict mutations associated with a 1992-1993 epidemic, we used reverse genetic studies to identify an envelope glycoprotein gene mutation that mediated emergence. This mutation allowed an enzootic, equine-avirulent VEEV strain, which circulates among rodents in nearby forests to adapt for equine amplification. RNA viruses including alphaviruses exhibit high mutation frequencies. Therefore, ecological and epidemiological factors probably constrain the frequency of VEE epidemics more than the generation, via mutation, of amplification-competent (high equine viremia) virus strains. These results underscore the ability of RNA viruses to alter their host range, virulence, and epidemic potential via minor genetic changes. VEE also demonstrates the unpredictable risks to human health of anthropogenic changes such as the introduction of equines and humans into habitats that harbor zoonotic RNA viruses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael Anishchenko
- *Center for Biodefense and Emerging Infectious Diseases and Department of Pathology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX 77555-0609; and
| | - Richard A. Bowen
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523
| | - Slobodan Paessler
- *Center for Biodefense and Emerging Infectious Diseases and Department of Pathology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX 77555-0609; and
| | - Laura Austgen
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523
| | - Ivorlyne P. Greene
- *Center for Biodefense and Emerging Infectious Diseases and Department of Pathology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX 77555-0609; and
| | - Scott C. Weaver
- *Center for Biodefense and Emerging Infectious Diseases and Department of Pathology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX 77555-0609; and
- To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail:
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Abstract
Arthropod-borne viruses (arboviruses) generally require horizontal transmission by arthropod vectors among vertebrate hosts for their natural maintenance. This requirement for alternate replication in disparate hosts places unusual evolutionary constraints on these viruses, which have probably limited the evolution of arboviruses to only a few families of RNA viruses (Togaviridae, Flaviviridae, Bunyaviridae, Rhabdoviridae, Reoviridae, and Orthomyxoviridae) and a single DNA virus. Phylogenetic studies have suggested the dominance of purifying selection in the evolution of arboviruses, consistent with constraints imposed by differing replication environments and requirements in arthropod and vertebrate hosts. Molecular genetic studies of alphaviruses and flaviviruses have also identified several mutations that effect differentially the replication in vertebrate and mosquito cells, consistent with the view that arboviruses must adopt compromise fitness characteristics for each host. More recently, evidence of positive selection has also been obtained from these studies. However, experimental model systems employing arthropod and vertebrate cell cultures have yielded conflicting conclusions on the effect of alternating host infections, with host specialization inconsistently resulting in fitness gains or losses in the bypassed host cells. Further studies using in vivo systems to study experimental arbovirus evolution are critical to understanding and predicting disease emergence, which often results from virus adaptation to new vectors or amplification hosts. Reverse genetic technologies that are now available for most arbovirus groups should be exploited to test assumptions and hypotheses derived from retrospective phylogenetic approaches.
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Affiliation(s)
- S C Weaver
- Center for Biodefense and Emerging Infectious Diseases and Department of Pathology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX 77555-0609, USA.
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Ortiz DI, Anishchenko M, Weaver SC. Susceptibility of Psorophora confinnis (Diptera: Culicidae) to infection with epizootic (subtype IC) and enzootic (subtype ID) Venezuelan Equine encephalitis viruses. JOURNAL OF MEDICAL ENTOMOLOGY 2005; 42:857-63. [PMID: 16365999 DOI: 10.1093/jmedent/42.5.857] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/05/2023]
Abstract
To test the hypothesis that adaptation to epizootic mosquito vectors mediates the emergence of Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus (family Togaviridae, genus Alphavirus, VEEV) from enzootic progenitors, the susceptibility of the epizootic vector Psorophora confinnis (Lynch-Arribalzaga) to epizootic versus enzootic strains was evaluated. Artificial bloodmeals containing subtype IC strains isolated during the 1962-1964, 1992-1993, and 1995 Venezuelan/Colombian epizootics and closely related Venezuelan enzootic subtype ID strains were used to compare mosquito infectivity and transmission potential. Strains from the smaller 1992-1993 epizootic showed lower or equal infectivity and replication compared with enzootic viruses and to strains isolated during the larger 1962-1964 and 1995 epizootics. These experiments failed to provide evidence that Ps. confinnis selects for epizootic VEEV viruses with higher infectivity, as has been shown for Aedes (Ochlerotatus) taeniorhynchus (Wiedemann). Nonetheless, its high susceptibility, abundance in enzootic and epizootic regions, and feeding behavior suggest that Ps. confinnis is an important bridge vector for both enzootic and epizootic VEEV.
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Affiliation(s)
- Diana I Ortiz
- Center for Biodefense and Emerging Infectious Diseases, Department of Pathology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX 77555-0609, USA
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