Arbovirus Studies in Bush Bush Forest, Trinidad, W. I., September 1959–December 1964

Isolation and phylogenetic analysis of Mucambo virus (Venezuelan equine encephalitis complex subtype IIIA) in Trinidad

“…This work resulted in the isolation and characterization of hundreds of arboviruses, primarily from the Bush Bush Forest, an approximately 0.85 sq km region within the Nariva swamp in southeastern Trinidad (Downs et al, 1959; Downs et al, 1968; Jonkers et al, 1968a, 1968b; Spence et al, 1969; Spence et al, 1968). Since then, with the exception of work on Dengue virus (DENV) evolution and dispersal (Carrington et al, 2005; Foster et al, 2003; Foster et al, 2004) and several serological studies in the 1970s and early 1980s (Price, 1978a, 1978b; Tikasingh et al, 1974; Tikasingh et al, 1983), there has been very little work performed on Trinidad’s arboviruses.…”

Isolation and Characterization of Sylvatic Mosquito-Borne Viruses in Trinidad: Enzootic Transmission and a New Potential Vector of Mucambo Virus

“…For the BBF, assuming only one mosquito was positive in a pool, the minimum infection rate in the current study was estimated to be 0.2/1,000 specimens, in contrast to the rate of 0.7/1,000 in a five-year BBF mosquito surveillance study during 1959-1964. 6 This lower infection rate may be accounted for by differences in mosquito species diversity resulting from the use of a larger range of mosquito collection techniques in the earlier studies, which included human and rodent bait, canopy trapping, and sampling over larger areas. Although the overall mosquito diversity and infection rate were different, the five viruses isolated and their relative proportions were similar, with MUCV isolated in the largest numbers, followed by Bimiti, Caraparu and Oriboca virus, although many other viruses were isolated at lower frequencies during the earlier study.…”

“…6,7 All of the VEE complex viruses were confirmed as MUCV on the basis of nucleotide sequencing and homology searches, and showed > 98% sequence similarity across an ~400-nucleotide fragment of the nonstructural protein 1 gene of the reference MUCV strain (BeAn8; AF075253). Our isolation of MUCV from Ae.…”

“…6,7 Coquillettidia venezuelensis, a reported vector of Oropouche and Mayaro viruses 2,6 was only collected at the BBF, and mosquitoes of the other three species were collected at all three sampled locations. No YFV was isolated from the small numbers of Haemagogus and Sabethes spp.…”

“…In Trinidad, dengue and yellow fever virus activity have been well documented and characterized, but there has been little recent research on the presence of other arboviruses since the extensive surveillance studies that were performed nearly 50 years ago. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7] These studies demonstrated the presence of a wide range of arboviruses, particularly in the Bush Bush Forest (BBF) and Aripo Savannah Scientific Reserve (ASSR), which are ecologically distinct scientific reserves in eastern Trinidad. In the intervening years, the island has undergone considerable urbanization and the regions previously surveyed have been encroached on by squatters, and have been impacted by activities, such as quarrying, hunting, and farming.…”