Isolation and genetic analysis of the chikungunya virus from Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus mosquitoes captured in Central America

Abstract

Introduction. The habitat of mosquitoes belonging to the genera Aedes spp., Culex spp., Culiseta spp. is in South and Central America, including Nicaragua. Monitoring of the spread of mosquito vectors and assessment of the infection with arboviruses can provide information on possible occurrence of new diseases or an increase in the reported cases, changes in the infectivity of viruses for humans due to changes in pathogen transmitters.
 The purpose of this study was isolation and identification of arboviruses belonging to the Flavivirus and Alphavirus genera from A. albopictus, A. aegypti, Culiseta spp., Culex spp. mosquitoes captured in forests of Nicaragua.
 Materials and methods. A. albopictus, A. aegypti, Culiseta spp., Culex spp. mosquitoes were captured during the dry season in 2021 in forested areas of Nicaragua in four different locations. Mosquitoes were sorted into pools, each containing 5-8 mosquitoes (236 pools in total). Using the reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction, the pools were tested for the presence of chikungunya (CHIKV), dengue, Zika, and yellow fever viruses. Positive pools were inoculated into the C6/36 cell culture to obtain isolates and for their further sequencing.
 Results. The dengue virus was detected only in Aedes spp. mosquitoes: in 7 pools — A. aegypti, in 1 — A. albopictus. CHIKV was also detected only in Aedes spp. mosquitoes: in 3 pools — A. aegypti, in 1 — A. albopictus. The sequencing of nucleotide sequences of 6К, Е1, Е2, and NS1 genes of CHIKV isolated from A. albopictus mosquitoes showed that compared to the similar gene sequences from CHIKV isolates recovered from A. aegypti mosquitoes, the 6K gene region contained 4 nucleotide and 4 amino acid substitutions, while the E1 region contained 16 nucleotide substitutions, 10 of them led to amino acid substitutions; the E2 region contained 14 nucleotide and 11 amino acid substitutions; the NS1 region contained 33 nucleotide and 19 amino acid substitutions.