An autochthonous chikungunya outbreak is ongoing near Anzio, a coastal town in the province of Rome. The virus isolated from one patient and mosquitoes lacks the A226V mutation and belongs to an East Central South African strain. As of 20 September, 86 cases are laboratory-confirmed. The outbreak proximity to the capital, its late summer occurrence, and diagnostic delays, are favouring transmission. Vector control, enhanced surveillance and restricted blood donations are being implemented in affected areas.
We report a study on vector competence of an Italian population of Aedes albopictus for Zika virus (ZIKV). Ae. albopictus was susceptible to ZIKV infection (infection rate: 10%), and the virus could disseminate and was secreted in the mosquito’s saliva (dissemination rate: 29%; transmission rate: 29%) after an extrinsic incubation period of 11 days. The observed vector competence was lower than that of an Ae. aegypti colony tested in parallel.
Nel presente lavoro vengono riportate le informazioni essenziali su tassonomia e biologia nonché sugli aspetti ecologici degli adulti dei Culicidi italiani. Attualmente la fauna culicidica italiana comprende 64 specie appartenenti a 2 sottofamiglie e 8 generi. Alla sottofamiglia Anophelinae appartiene soltanto il genere Anopheles, presente con 16 specie raggruppate in due sottogeneri. Alla sottofamiglia Culicinae appartengono i rimanenti 7 generi: Aedes con 6 specie raggruppate in 3 sottogeneri, Coquillettidia con 2 specie, Ochlerotatus con 20 specie raggruppate in 3 sottogeneri, Culex con 12 specie raggruppate in 4 sottogeneri, Culiseta con 6 specie raggruppate in 3 sottogeneri, Orthopodomyia e Uranotaenia con una specie ognuna. In questo contesto vengono fornite le chiavi di identificazione specifica per le zanzare adulte, in italiano e in inglese. Le chiavi sono corredate da un’ampia iconografia (figure 1-75). Alle chiavi fa seguito la diagnosi morfologica dell’adulto di ogni specie con note sulla relativa biologia e distribuzione. Per ulteriori approfondimenti viene riportata la bibliografia completa sulle zanzare della fauna italiana dal 1960 ed i precedenti lavori più autorevoli.
Eight years after the introduction and establishment of Aedes albopictus in Roma, females of the species extended their trophic activity to the coldest months of the year. Winter monitoring carried out from December 2003 to March 2004 in the urban area of the capital city of Italy recorded a weekly rate of positive ovitraps constantly around 30%, for the entire period of surveillance (14 wk). Eggs from ovitraps did not hatch when stimulated in laboratory with a wet and dry procedure. The hypothesis that long-lived female Ae. albopictus, belonging to the last seasonal generation, could have continued their trophic activity for 3 months, or that 1 or more cycles of reproduction have occurred in peculiar breeding sites, where a favorable microclimate may have allowed the development of at least 1 larval generation, are discussed and compared with the existing literature.
Mosquitoes in the Culex pipiens complex are considered to be involved in the transmission of a range of pathogens, including West Nile virus (WNV). Although its taxonomic status is still debated, the complex includes species, both globally distributed or with a more limited distribution, morphologically similar and characterised by different physiological and behavioural traits, which affect their ability as vectors. In many European countries, Cx. pipiens and its sibling species Culex torrentium occur in sympatry, exhibiting similar bionomic and morphological characters, but only Cx. pipiens appears to play a vector role in WNV transmission. This species consists of two biotypes, pipiens and molestus, which can interbreed when in sympatry, and their hybrids can act as WNV-bridge vectors, due to intermediate ecological features. Considering the yearly WNV outbreaks since 2008 and given the morphological difficulties in recognising species and biotypes, our aim was to molecularly identify and characterised Cx. pipiens and Cx. torrentium in Italy, using recently developed molecular assays. Culex torrentium was not detected; as in other European countries, the pipiens and molestus biotypes were widely found in sympatry with hybrids in most environments. The UPGMA cluster analysis applied to CQ11 genotypic frequencies mainly revealed two groups of Cx. pipiens populations that differed in ecological features. The high propensity of the molestus biotype to exist in hypogean environments, where the habitat’s physical characteristics hinder and preclude the gene flow, was shown. These results confirmed the CQ11 assay as a reliable diagnostic method, consistent with the ecological and physiological aspects of the populations analysed. Since the assessment of the actual role of three biotypes in the WNV circulation remains a crucial point to be elucidated, this extensive molecular screening of Cx. pipiens populations can provide new insights into the ecology of the species and may give useful indications to plan and implement WNV surveillance activities in Italy.
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