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Extensive variation and strain-specificity in dengue virus susceptibility among African Aedes aegypti populations.

ABSTRACT: African populations of the mosquito Aedes aegypti are usually considered less susceptible to infection by human-pathogenic flaviviruses than globally invasive populations found outside Africa. Although this contrast has been well documented for Zika virus (ZIKV), it is unclear to what extent it is true for dengue virus (DENV), the most prevalent flavivirus of humans. Addressing this question is complicated by substantial genetic diversity among DENV strains, most notably in the form of four genetic types (DENV1 to DENV4), that can lead to genetically specific interactions with mosquito populations. Here, we carried out a survey of DENV susceptibility using a panel of seven field-derived Ae. aegypti colonies from across the African range of the species and a colony from Guadeloupe, French West Indies as non-African reference. We found considerable variation in the ability of African Ae. aegypti populations to acquire and replicate a panel of six DENV strains spanning the four DENV types. Although African Ae. aegypti populations were generally less susceptible than the reference non-African population from Guadeloupe, in several instances some African populations were equally or more susceptible than the Guadeloupe population. Moreover, the relative level of susceptibility between African mosquito populations depended on the DENV strain, indicating genetically specific interactions. We conclude that unlike ZIKV susceptibility, there is no clear-cut dichotomy in DENV susceptibility between African and non-African Ae. aegypti. DENV susceptibility of African Ae. aegypti populations is highly heterogeneous and largely governed by the specific pairing of mosquito population and DENV strain.

SUBMITTER: Dabo S

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10994562 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Extensive variation and strain-specificity in dengue virus susceptibility among African Aedes aegypti populations.

Dabo Stéphanie S Henrion-Lacritick Annabelle A Lecuyer Alicia A Jiolle Davy D Paupy Christophe C Ayala Diego D da Veiga Leal Silvânia S Badolo Athanase A Vega-Rúa Anubis A Sylla Massamba M Akorli Jewelna J Otoo Sampson S Lutomiah Joel J Sang Rosemary R Mutebi John-Paul JP Saleh Maria-Carla MC Rose Noah H NH McBride Carolyn S CS Lambrechts Louis L

PLoS neglected tropical diseases 20240325 3

African populations of the mosquito Aedes aegypti are usually considered less susceptible to infection by human-pathogenic flaviviruses than globally invasive populations found outside Africa. Although this contrast has been well documented for Zika virus (ZIKV), it is unclear to what extent it is true for dengue virus (DENV), the most prevalent flavivirus of humans. Addressing this question is complicated by substantial genetic diversity among DENV strains, most notably in the form of four gene ...[more]

PMID: 38527081

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Project description:BackgroundThe infectious dose required to infect mosquito vectors when they take a blood meal from a viremic person is a critical parameter underlying the probability of dengue virus (DENV) transmission. Because experimental vector competence studies typically examine the proportion of mosquitoes that become infected at intermediate or high DENV infectious doses in the blood meal, the minimum blood meal titer required to infect mosquitoes is poorly documented. Understanding the factors influencing the lower infectiousness threshold is epidemiologically significant because it determines the transmission potential of humans with a low DENV viremia, possibly including inapparent infections, and during the onset and resolution of the viremic period of acutely infected individuals.Methodology/principal findingsWe compared the susceptibility of two field-derived Aedes aegypti populations from Kamphaeng Phet, Thailand when they were orally exposed to low titers of six DENV-2 isolates derived from the serum of naturally infected humans living in the same region. The infectious dose, time-point post-blood feeding, viral isolate and mosquito population, were significant predictors of the proportion of mosquitoes that became infected. Importantly, the dose-response profile differed significantly between the two Ae. aegypti populations. Although both mosquito populations had a similar 50% oral infectious dose (OID50), the slope of the dose-response was shallower in one population, resulting in a markedly higher susceptibility at low blood meal titers.Conclusions/significanceOur results indicate that mosquitoes in nature vary in their infectious dose-response to DENV. Thus, different mosquito populations have a differential ability to acquire DENV infection at low viremia levels. Future studies on human-to-mosquito DENV transmission should not be limited to OID50 values, but rather they should be expanded to account for the shape of the dose-response profile across a range of virus titers.

Project description:The incidence of locally acquired dengue infections increased during the last decade in the United States, compelling a sustained research effort concerning the dengue mosquito vector, Aedes aegypti, and its microbiome, which has been shown to influence virus transmission success. We examined the "metavirome" of four populations of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes collected in 2016 to 2017 in Manatee County, FL. Unexpectedly, we discovered that dengue virus serotype 4 (DENV4) was circulating in these mosquito populations, representing the first documented case of such a phenomenon in the absence of a local DENV4 human case in this county over a 2-year period. We confirmed that all of the mosquito populations carried the same DENV4 strain, assembled its full genome, validated infection orthogonally by reverse transcriptase PCR, traced the virus origin, estimated the time period of its introduction to the Caribbean region, and explored the viral genetic signatures and mosquito-specific virome associations that potentially mediated DENV4 persistence in mosquitoes. We discuss the significance of prolonged maintenance of the DENV4 infections in A. aegypti that occurred in the absence of a DENV4 human index case in Manatee County with respect to the inability of current surveillance paradigms to detect mosquito vector infections prior to a potential local outbreak.IMPORTANCE Since 1999, dengue outbreaks in the continental United States involving local transmission have occurred only episodically and only in Florida and Texas. In Florida, these episodes appear to be coincident with increased introductions of dengue virus into the region through human travel and migration from countries where the disease is endemic. To date, the U.S. public health response to dengue outbreaks has been largely reactive, and implementation of comprehensive arbovirus surveillance in advance of predictable transmission seasons, which would enable proactive preventative efforts, remains unsupported. The significance of our finding is that it is the first documented report of DENV4 transmission to and maintenance within a local mosquito vector population in the continental United States in the absence of a human case during two consecutive years. Our data suggest that molecular surveillance of mosquito populations in high-risk, high-tourism areas of the United States may enable proactive, targeted vector control before potential arbovirus outbreaks.

Project description:BackgroundDengue fever, caused by the dengue virus (DENV), is the most common viral infection transmitted by Aedes mosquitoes (mainly Ae. aegypti and Ae. albopictus) worldwide. Aedes aegypti is not currently established in Japan, and Ae. albopictus is the primary vector mosquito for DENV in the country, but knowledge of its viral susceptibility is limited. Therefore, we aimed to clarify the status of DENV susceptibility by comparing the infection and dissemination dynamics of Japanese Ae. albopictus to all known DENV serotypes with those of Ae. aegypti.MethodsAfter propagation of each DENV serotype in Vero cells, the culture supernatants were mixed with defibrinated rabbit blood and adenosine triphosphate, and the mixture was artificially blood-sucked by two colonies of Ae. albopictus from Japan and one colony of Ae. aegypti from a dengue-endemic country (Vietnam). After 14 days of sucking, the mosquito body was divided into two parts (thorax/abdomen and head/wings/legs) and total RNA was extracted from each sample. DENV RNA was detected in these extracted RNA samples using a quantitative RT-PCR method specific for each DENV serotype, and infection and dissemination rates were analyzed.ResultsThe Japanese Ae. albopictus colonies were susceptible to all DENV serotypes. Its infection and dissemination rates were significantly lower than those of Ae. aegypti. However, the number of DENV RNA copies in Ae. albopictus was almost not significantly different from that in Ae. aegypti. Furthermore, Japanese Ae. albopictus differed widely in their susceptibility to each DENV serotype.ConclusionsIn Japanese Ae. albopictus, once DENV overcame the midgut infection barrier, the efficiency of subsequent propagation and dissemination of the virus in the mosquito body was comparable to that of Ae. aegypti. Based on the results of this study and previous dengue outbreak trends, Ae. albopictus is predicted to be highly compatible with DENV-1, suggesting that this serotype poses a high risk for future epidemics in Japan.

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Extensive variation and strain-specificity in dengue virus susceptibility among African Aedes aegypti populations.

Publications

Extensive variation and strain-specificity in dengue virus susceptibility among African Aedes aegypti populations.

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