Surveillance and Control of Mosquito-Borne Diseases

A special issue of Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease (ISSN 2414-6366). This special issue belongs to the section "Vector-Borne Diseases".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 June 2023) | Viewed by 7168

Special Issue Editors

Department of Epidemiology, São Leopoldo Mandic Medical School, Campinas-SP, São Paulo 13045-755, Brazil
Interests: mosquito-borne disease; epidemiological intelligence; arbovirus; neglected tropical diseases
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
School of Medicine, Post Graduate Program in Public Health, Federal University of Ceará, Fortaleza 60430-140, Brazil
Interests: epidemiology; entomology; arboviruses; investigation of deaths; dengue; chikungunya

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Since the dawn of humanity, diseases transmitted by vectors have caused a great deal of illness and death. Among the most worrying and costly are those transmitted by mosquitoes. The progressive increase in the flow of goods and people has facilitated the introduction of vectors and pathogens in new areas, causing unaffected locations to maintain active surveillance to control diseases that do not historically occur there. Climate change has imposed new challenges, creating favorable conditions for the expansion of the area of occurrence of disease vector mosquito species. The selection of mosquito strains resistant to currently available insecticides is also another current concern. The change in land use, associated with the increase in ecotourism and the invasion of areas previously not frequented by man, has allowed for an increase in the occurrence of infections in humans by zoonotic pathogens with the risk of endemization and the emergence of new human pathogens.

This set of situations makes the theme of this Special Issue "Surveillance and Control of Mosquito-borne Diseases" of the journal TropicalMed very important in scientific research, in the agenda of public health authorities, and a high priority in the international context of threats to global health.

Dr. André Ricardo Ribas Freitas
Dr. Luciano Pamplona de Góes Cavalcanti
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • mosquito-borne disease
  • epidemiological intelligence
  • arbovirus
  • neglected tropical diseases
  • entomology
  • investigation of deaths

Published Papers (4 papers)

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14 pages, 3527 KiB  
Article
Excretion Dynamics of Arboviruses in Mosquitoes and the Potential Use in Vector Competence Studies and Arbovirus Surveillance
by Christin Körsten, Ana Vasić, Amira A. AL-Hosary, Birke A. Tews, Cristian Răileanu, Cornelia Silaghi and Mandy Schäfer
Trop. Med. Infect. Dis. 2023, 8(8), 410; https://doi.org/10.3390/tropicalmed8080410 - 11 Aug 2023
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Abstract
The increasing threat of arboviruses such as West Nile virus (WNV) and Usutu virus (USUV) requires the fast and efficient surveillance of these viruses. The examination of mosquitoes takes up an important part; however, these investigations are usually very time-consuming. An alternative sample [...] Read more.
The increasing threat of arboviruses such as West Nile virus (WNV) and Usutu virus (USUV) requires the fast and efficient surveillance of these viruses. The examination of mosquitoes takes up an important part; however, these investigations are usually very time-consuming. An alternative sample type for arbovirus surveillance might be mosquito excreta. In order to determine the excretion dynamics under laboratory conditions, laboratory colonies of Aedes vexans and Culex pipiens biotype molestus were infected with WNV, USUV or tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV). After infection, the excreta were sampled and investigated for viral RNA. Excretion of viral RNA together with infectious blood meal could be detected up to five days after infection. Further excretion seemed to correlate with a disseminated infection in mosquitoes, at least after USUV infection. In addition, it could be determined that the amount of viral RNA in the excretions correlated positively with the viral load in the mosquito bodies. Overall, this study shows that the usage of mosquito excreta as a sample type for surveillance enables the detection of endemic viruses (WNV, USUV) as well as non-mosquito-borne viruses (TBEV). In addition, examination of viral shedding during vector competence studies can provide insights into the course of infection without sacrificing animals. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Surveillance and Control of Mosquito-Borne Diseases)
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11 pages, 3927 KiB  
Article
Risk Stratification to Guide Prevention and Control Strategies for Arboviruses Transmitted by Aedes aegypti
by Manuel Osvaldo Espinosa, Verónica Andreo, Gladys Paredes, Carlos Leaplaza, Viviana Heredia, María Victoria Periago and Marcelo Abril
Trop. Med. Infect. Dis. 2023, 8(7), 362; https://doi.org/10.3390/tropicalmed8070362 - 14 Jul 2023
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Abstract
Strategies for the prevention of arboviral diseases transmitted by Aedes aegypti have traditionally focused on vector control. This remains the same to this day, despite a lack of documented evidence on its efficacy due to a lack of coverage and sustainability. The continuous [...] Read more.
Strategies for the prevention of arboviral diseases transmitted by Aedes aegypti have traditionally focused on vector control. This remains the same to this day, despite a lack of documented evidence on its efficacy due to a lack of coverage and sustainability. The continuous growth of urban areas and generally unplanned urbanization, which favor the presence of Ae. aegypti, demand resources, both material and human, as well as logistics to effectively lower the population’s risk of infection. These considerations have motivated the development of tools to identify areas with a recurrent concentration of arboviral cases during an outbreak to be able to prioritize preventive actions and optimize available resources. This study explores the existence of spatial patterns of dengue incidence in the locality of Tartagal, in northeastern Argentina, during the outbreaks that occurred between 2010 and 2020. Approximately half (50.8%) of the cases recorded during this period were concentrated in 35.9% of the urban area. Additionally, an important overlap was found between hotspot areas of dengue and chikungunya (Kendall’s W = 0.92; p-value < 0.001) during the 2016 outbreak. Moreover, 65.9% of the cases recorded in 2022 were geolocalized within the hotspot areas detected between 2010 and 2020. These results can be used to generate a risk map to implement timely preventive control strategies that prioritize these areas to reduce their vulnerability while optimizing the available resources and increasing the scope of action. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Surveillance and Control of Mosquito-Borne Diseases)
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18 pages, 2489 KiB  
Article
Identification of Neotropical Culex Mosquitoes by MALDI-TOF MS Profiling
by Monique Melo Costa, Amandine Guidez, Sébastien Briolant, Stanislas Talaga, Jean Issaly, Halima Naroua, Romuald Carinci, Pascal Gaborit, Anne Lavergne, Isabelle Dusfour, Jean-Bernard Duchemin and Lionel Almeras
Trop. Med. Infect. Dis. 2023, 8(3), 168; https://doi.org/10.3390/tropicalmed8030168 - 13 Mar 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1382
Abstract
The mosquito (Diptera: Culicidae) fauna of French Guiana encompasses 242 species, of which nearly half of them belong to the genus Culex. Whereas several species of Culex are important vectors of arboviruses, only a limited number of studies focus on them due [...] Read more.
The mosquito (Diptera: Culicidae) fauna of French Guiana encompasses 242 species, of which nearly half of them belong to the genus Culex. Whereas several species of Culex are important vectors of arboviruses, only a limited number of studies focus on them due to the difficulties to morphologically identify field-caught females. Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) has been reported as a promising method for the identification of mosquitoes. Culex females collected in French Guiana were morphologically identified and dissected. Abdomens were used for molecular identification using the COI (cytochrome oxidase 1) gene. Legs and thorax of 169 specimens belonging to 13 Culex species, (i.e., Cx. declarator, Cx. nigripalpus, Cx. quinquefasciatus, Cx. usquatus, Cx. adamesi, Cx. dunni, Cx. eastor, Cx. idottus, Cx. pedroi, Cx. phlogistus, Cx. portesi, Cx. rabanicolus and Cx. spissipes) were then submitted to MALDI-TOF MS analysis. A high intra-species reproducibility and inter-species specificity of MS spectra for each mosquito body part tested were obtained. A corroboration of the specimen identification was revealed between MALDI-TOF MS, morphological and molecular results. MALDI-TOF MS protein profiling proves to be a suitable tool for identification of neotropical Culex species and will permit the enhancement of knowledge on this highly diverse genus. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Surveillance and Control of Mosquito-Borne Diseases)
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17 pages, 1028 KiB  
Systematic Review
Epidemiology and Economic Burden of Chikungunya: A Systematic Literature Review
by Lourrany Borges Costa, Francisca Kalline de Almeida Barreto, Marina Carvalho Arruda Barreto, Thyago Henrique Pereira dos Santos, Maria de Margarette Oliveira de Andrade, Luís Arthur Brasil Gadelha Farias, André Ricardo Ribas de Freitas, Miguel Julian Martinez and Luciano Pamplona de Góes Cavalcanti
Trop. Med. Infect. Dis. 2023, 8(6), 301; https://doi.org/10.3390/tropicalmed8060301 - 31 May 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2558
Abstract
Chikungunya (CHIK) is a re-emerging viral infection endemic in tropical and subtropical areas. While the typical clinical presentation is an acute febrile syndrome, long-term articular complications and even death can occur. This review characterizes the global epidemiological and economic burden of chikungunya. The [...] Read more.
Chikungunya (CHIK) is a re-emerging viral infection endemic in tropical and subtropical areas. While the typical clinical presentation is an acute febrile syndrome, long-term articular complications and even death can occur. This review characterizes the global epidemiological and economic burden of chikungunya. The search included studies published from 2007 to 2022 in MEDLINE, Embase, LILACS, and SciELO for a thorough evaluation of the literature. Rayyan software was used for data analysis, and data were summarized descriptively and reported following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. Seventy-six publications were included. Chikungunya is widely distributed in the tropics, including Africa, Asia, South America, and Oceania/the Pacific Islands, and co-circulates with other simultaneous arboviruses such as DENV, ZIKV, and YFV. Chikungunya infection can lead to chronic articular manifestations with a significant impact on the quality of life in the long term. In addition, it generates absenteeism and economic and social losses and can cause fatal infections in vulnerable populations, mainly in high-risk patients with co-morbidities and at the extremes of age. Reported costs associated with CHIKV diseases are substantial and vary by region, age group, and public/private delivery of healthcare services. The chikungunya disease burden includes chronicity, severe infections, increased hospitalization risks, and associated mortality. The disease can impact the economy in several spheres, significantly affecting the health system and national economies. Understanding and measuring the full impact of this re-emerging disease is essential. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Surveillance and Control of Mosquito-Borne Diseases)
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