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. 2023 Jun 20;8(6):329.
doi: 10.3390/tropicalmed8060329.

The Importance of Entomo-Virological Investigation of Yellow Fever Virus to Strengthen Surveillance in Brazil

Ana Cecília Ribeiro Cruz  1   2 , Leonardo Henrique Almeida Hernández  1   2 , Carine Fortes Aragão  1 , Thito Yan Bezerra da Paz  1   2 , Sandro Patroca da Silva  1 , Fábio Silva da Silva  1   2 , Ana Alice de Aquino  1   3 , Glennda Juscely Galvão Pereira Cereja  1 , Bruna Lais Sena do Nascimento  1 , José Wilson Rosa Junior  1 , Carmeci Natalina Elias  4 , Cristiano Gomes Nogueira  4 , Daniel Garkauskas Ramos  5 , Vagner Fonseca  6 , Marta Giovanetti  7 , Luiz Carlos Junior Alcantara  7 , Bruno Tardelli Diniz Nunes  1 , Pedro F da Costa Vasconcelos  1   2 , Livia Carício Martins  1 , Joaquim Pinto Nunes-Neto  1
Affiliations

The Importance of Entomo-Virological Investigation of Yellow Fever Virus to Strengthen Surveillance in Brazil

Ana Cecília Ribeiro Cruz et al. Trop Med Infect Dis. .

Abstract

The largest outbreak of sylvatic yellow fever virus (YFV) in eight decades was recorded in Brazil between 2016-2018. Besides human and NHP surveillance, the entomo-virological approach is considered as a complementary tool. For this study, a total of 2904 mosquitoes of the Aedes, Haemagogus and Sabethes genera were collected from six Brazilian states (Bahia, Goiás, Mato Grosso, Minas Gerais, Pará, and Tocantins) and grouped into 246 pools, which were tested for YFV using RT-qPCR. We detected 20 positive pools from Minas Gerais, 5 from Goiás, and 1 from Bahia, including 12 of Hg. janthinomys and 5 of Ae. albopictus. This is the first description of natural YFV infection in this species and warns of the likelihood of urban YFV re-emergence with Ae. albopictus as a potential bridge vector. Three YFV sequences from Hg. janthinomys from Goiás and one from Minas Gerais, as well as one from Ae. albopictus from Minas Gerais were clustered within the 2016-2018 outbreak clade, indicating YFV spread from Midwest and its infection in a main and likely novel bridging vector species. Entomo-virological surveillance is critical for YFV monitoring in Brazil, which could highlight the need to strengthen YFV surveillance, vaccination coverage, and vector control measures.

Keywords: Aedes albopictus; entomo-virological surveillance; outbreak; vectors; yellow fever virus.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Total collected mosquitoes per year and their genera (A), distribution of total pools of mosquitoes (above) and total specimens (below) per genera and Brazilian state of collection (B), and map of location of the respective Brazilian states of collection (C). BA: Bahia; GO: Goiás; MT: Mato Grosso; MG: Minas Gerais; PA: Pará; and TO: Tocantins.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Municipalities of origin of the positive samples for YFV at RT-qPCR.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Maximum likelihood phylogenetic inference using the GTR + F + R2 nucleotide substitution model based on the YFV complete genome of 87 sequences, including five obtained from mosquitoes in our study (in red). African genotype clades are collapsed. Each record includes the sequence accession number, host species, country (and state for Brazilian sequences), and collection year. GO: Goiás; ES: Espírito Santo; MG: Minas Gerais; MS: Mato Grosso do Sul; PA: Pará; RJ: Rio de Janeiro; RO: Rondônia; RR: Roraima; RS: Rio Grande do Sul.
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