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Investigation on potential malaria vectors (Anopheles spp.) in the Province of Trento, Italy.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND:Europe and Italy were declared malaria free since the 1970s although the presence of competent vectors and the high number of yearly imported malaria cases make this disease a potential rising health issue. In September 2017, a cryptic fatal case of Plasmodium falciparum malaria in the Province of Trento, Italy, raised the concern of health authorities on the possible resurgence of this disease in the Mediterranean Basin. METHODS:An entomological surveillance by means of BG traps, CDC light traps and larval search was performed. Sites were chosen among urban and suburban environments (e.g. private houses, public parks, schools, cemeteries, ecotone urban/forest, farms), ranging from an altitude of 91 to 1332 m above sea level. All the mosquitoes collected were morphologically identified and about half of them (103; 49%) were confirmed with the sequencing analysis of the rRNA internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS-2). RESULTS:In the present study 287 sites were screened for the presence of Anopheles spp. and 211 specimens were collected and identified. Hundred-eighteen individuals (56%) belonged to Anopheles plumbeus, 56 (26.5%) to Anopheles maculipennis complex, 10 (4.7%) to Anopheles claviger and 27 were identified only at genus level. This is the first record for the presence of An. plumbeus in the study area. CONCLUSIONS:The presence of Anopheles spp. mosquitoes in the Province of Trento, Italy, has been updated with the occurrence of An. plumbeus. The risk of malaria endemicity in the area is to be considered very low, but urban and peri-urban habitat may act as potential breeding sites for the presence of mosquito vectors and should be constantly monitored.

SUBMITTER: Tagliapietra V

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6489321 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Investigation on potential malaria vectors (Anopheles spp.) in the Province of Trento, Italy.

Tagliapietra Valentina V Arnoldi Daniele D Di Luca Marco M Toma Luciano L Rizzoli Annapaola A

Malaria journal 20190429 1

<h4>Background</h4>Europe and Italy were declared malaria free since the 1970s although the presence of competent vectors and the high number of yearly imported malaria cases make this disease a potential rising health issue. In September 2017, a cryptic fatal case of Plasmodium falciparum malaria in the Province of Trento, Italy, raised the concern of health authorities on the possible resurgence of this disease in the Mediterranean Basin.<h4>Methods</h4>An entomological surveillance by means o ...[more]

PMID: 31036019

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Project description:BackgroundAntibody responses against Anopheles salivary proteins can indicate individual exposure to bites of malaria vectors. The extent to which these salivary proteins are species-specific is not entirely resolved. Thus, a better knowledge of the diversity among salivary protein repertoires from various malaria vector species is necessary to select relevant genus-, subgenus- and/or species-specific salivary antigens. Such antigens could be used for quantitative (mosquito density) and qualitative (mosquito species) immunological evaluation of malaria vectors/host contact. In this study, salivary gland protein repertoires (sialomes) from several Anopheles species were compared using in silico analysis and proteomics. The antigenic diversity of salivary gland proteins among different Anopheles species was also examined.ResultsIn silico analysis of secreted salivary gland protein sequences retrieved from an NCBInr database of six Anopheles species belonging to the Cellia subgenus (An. gambiae, An. arabiensis, An. stephensi and An. funestus) and Nyssorhynchus subgenus (An. albimanus and An. darlingi) displayed a higher degree of similarity compared to salivary proteins from closely related Anopheles species. Additionally, computational hierarchical clustering allowed identification of genus-, subgenus- and species-specific salivary proteins. Proteomic and immunoblot analyses performed on salivary gland extracts from four Anopheles species (An. gambiae, An. arabiensis, An. stephensi and An. albimanus) indicated that heterogeneity of the salivary proteome and antigenic proteins was lower among closely related anopheline species and increased with phylogenetic distance.ConclusionThis is the first report on the diversity of the salivary protein repertoire among species from the Anopheles genus at the protein level. This work demonstrates that a molecular diversity is exhibited among salivary proteins from closely related species despite their common pharmacological activities. The involvement of these proteins as antigenic candidates for genus-, subgenus- or species-specific immunological evaluation of individual exposure to Anopheles bites is discussed.

Project description:BACKGROUND:It is anticipated that malaria elimination efforts in Africa will be hampered by increasing resistance to the limited arsenal of insecticides approved for use in public health. However, insecticide susceptibility status of vector populations evaluated under standard insectary test conditions can give a false picture of the threat, as the thermal environment in which the insect and insecticide interact plays a significant role in insecticide toxicity. METHODS:The effect of temperature on the expression of the standard WHO insecticide resistance phenotype was examined using Anopheles arabiensis and Anopheles funestus strains: a susceptible strain and the derived resistant strain, selected in the laboratory for resistance to DDT or pyrethroids. The susceptibility of mosquitoes to the pyrethroid deltamethrin or the carbamate bendiocarb was assessed at 18, 25 or 30 °C. The ability of the pyrethroid synergist piperonyl-butoxide (PBO) to restore pyrethroid susceptibility was also assessed at these temperatures. RESULTS:Temperature impacted the toxicity of deltamethrin and bendiocarb. Although the resistant An. funestus strain was uniformly resistant to deltamethrin across temperatures, increasing temperature increased the resistance of the susceptible An. arabiensis strain. Against susceptible An. funestus and resistant An. arabiensis females, deltamethrin exposure at temperatures both lower and higher than standard insectary conditions increased mortality. PBO exposure completely restored deltamethrin susceptibility at all temperatures. Bendiocarb displayed a consistently positive temperature coefficient against both susceptible and resistant An. funestus strains, with survival increasing as temperature increased. CONCLUSIONS:Environmental temperature has a marked effect on the efficacy of insecticides used in public health against important African malaria vectors. Caution must be exercised when drawing conclusions about a chemical's efficacy from laboratory assays performed at only one temperature, as phenotypic resistance can vary significantly even over a temperature range that could be experienced by mosquitoes in the field during a single day. Similarly, it might be inappropriate to assume equal efficacy of a control tool over a geographic area where local conditions vary drastically. Additional studies into the effects of temperature on the efficacy of insecticide-based interventions under field conditions are warranted.

Dataset Information

Investigation on potential malaria vectors (Anopheles spp.) in the Province of Trento, Italy.

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Investigation on potential malaria vectors (Anopheles spp.) in the Province of Trento, Italy.

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