Ranking of mosquito species implicated in yellow fever epizootics in Argentina

CANO, MARIA EUGENIA; MUTTIS, EVANGELINA; BRIVIDORO, MELINA V.; BALSALOBRE, AGUSTIN; MARTI GERARDO; MICIELI MARIA VICTORIA

La Plata

Congreso; II Congress of Latin American Society for Vector Ecology; 2022

LA SOVE (Latin America Society for Vector Ecology)

The mosquito-borne yellow fever virus is the cause of a zoonotic disease, with both sylvatic and urban cycles. In South America there is consensus on the main vector species in the urban cycle (Aedes aegypti) and in the sylvatic cycle (Haemagogus janthinomys, Hg. leucocelaenus and Sabethes chloropterus). Although the importance given to each species varies depending on the bibliography, geographical location or year of publication. In addition, other species (eg. Aedes albopictus, Aedes scapularis, ) have been found to be involved in YF cycles in different aspects, demonstrating the complex relationships between vector-host and virus developed in the transmission of a disease. For Argentina, few works have assessed the involvement of mosquito species, especially those included in the sylvatic cycle. For this reason, the goal of this work is to gather all the information available in South America and categorize all mosquito species potentially involved in the yellow fever cycle in Argentina according to incriminating vector criteria. Therefore, we built a table using the data mentioned in each article, considering the following characteristics: 1) Hosts: a) Associated to: Share habitat with mosquito vectors. b) Host feeding: confirmation that the mosquito is feeding on the hosts. 2) Mosquito vectors: c) Infected in nature: YF virus isolated from wild specimens. d) Virus survivability: experimental virus assays. e) Transmission capacity: confirmation that the mosquito is capable of transmitting the virus in the laboratory (vector competence studies). 3) YF outbreaks: f) mosquito species found during a YF outbreak. Once the table was built, we generated a scale of importance by species . This scale was obtained by counting the positive cells of all characteristics (excepting the “Location” column), and assigning a score between 6 (maximum) and 1 (minimum) to each species. In Argentina, Sa. albiprivus was the most important species with a score of 3. Contrastingly, the most important species at South American were Hg. janthinomys, Hg. leucocelaenus and Sa. chloropterus. Furthermore, a comparative table was also made between both scales, to visualize the lack of information on the species. This work allows to highlight the lack of studies that evaluate the importance of these species for yellow fever transmission in Argentina, while is a starting point to establish priorities in the search for characteristics of vector species. This categorization may be used for entomological surveillance in the field by vector control agencies, to focus on the mosquito species implied in the epizootic cycle.