West Nile Virus in Mosquitoes of Iranian Wetlands

Sammanfattning

The West Nile virus (WNV) transmission cycle includes a wide range of migratory wetland birds as reservoirs, mosquitoes as biological vectors, and equines and humans as dead-end hosts. Despite the presence of potential vector species, there is no information about the existence of WNV in mosquito vectors in Iran. The Iranian West Azerbaijan Province is located in the northwestern part of Iran and has borders with Turkey, Iraq, Armenia, and the Republic of Azerbaijan. The current study was conducted to identify the wetland mosquitoes of the West Azerbaijan Province and their infection with WNV. In this study, 2143 specimens were collected, comprising 1541 adults and 602 larvae. Six species belonging to four genera were collected and identified: Anopheles maculipennis sensu lato (s.l.), Culex (Cx.) hortensis, Cx. pipiens s.l., Cx. theileri, Culiseta longiareolata, and Aedes (Ae.) (Ochlerotatus) caspius. In total, 45 pools of mosquitoes were examined. Two of the adult pools collected from the same location showed the presence of WNV in Ae. (Och.) caspius, from Sangar, Makoo County, as confirmed by PCR and sequencing. Due to the discovery of WNV in the mosquito population of the region, and the presence of wetlands and significant populations of migratory birds, the health sector should carefully monitor the factors involved in the cycle of this disease.

Nyckelord

West Nile virus; Culicidae; Arboviruses; Iran

Publicerad i

Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases
2015, volym: 15, nummer: 12, sidor: 750-754
Utgivare: MARY ANN LIEBERT, INC

SLU författare

• Terenius, Olle

  • Institutionen för ekologi, Sveriges lantbruksuniversitet
    

UKÄ forskningsämne

Mikrobiologi
Folkhälsovetenskap, global hälsa, socialmedicin och epidemiologi

Publikationens identifierare

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1089/vbz.2015.1778

Permanent länk till denna sida (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/69460