Midguts of Culex pipiens L. (Diptera: Culicidae) as a potential source of raw milk contamination with pathogens

Abstract

Despite their importance, only few studies focused on the mosquitoes borne microbial diseases, especially bacterial and fungal diseases, their vectorial capacity toward microorganisms, and their important role in raw milk contamination with pathogens in some unsanitary dairy farms. In Egypt, where Culex pipiens is the historical main vector of lymphatic filariasis, only few studies discussed the isolation of pathogens from the midguts of different stages of C. pipiens. This study aims to isolate and identify the pathogenic symbiotic microorganisms inside the midgut of adult female C. pipiens as well as investigate its ability to transmit their midgut pathogens to raw milk. A total of 750 field strain C. pipiens larvae of the second and third larval instars were collected from ponds water around the livestock farms in Mariotteya, Giza, Egypt, for microbial pathogen isolation and identification. All collected larval instars were transported to the laboratory at the Research and Training Center on Vectors of Diseases (RTC), Ain Shams University, where they were maintained for further studies. Six groups of C. pipiens were tested for the incidence of various pathogenic microorganisms in their midguts and their possibility to contaminate commercial sterilized milk. Traditional PCR assays and sequencing method detected and identified 16srRNA genes of the predominant hemolytic isolates from milk and midguts of female C. pipiens. The phylogenetic analyses of the obtained isolates were performed based on NCBI data. Three strains of Bacillus anthracis strain CPMESA 2021, Staphylococcus warneri strain CPSAME 2021, and Bacillus cereus strain CPSEMA 2021, which represent most food pathogens, were found in the midguts of C. pipiens and were submitted to the GenBank database with the accession numbers OK585071, OK576651, and OK585052, respectively. The isolation of these strains from mosquitoes raises contemporary issues concerning milk safety, such as bacterial isolates, the degree of the vectorial capacity of mosquitoes, milk production and processing conditions, and human pathogenicity. Such serious issues need further investigation.

Isolation and identification of microbiota of Culex quinquefasciatus for their application as paratransgenic tools in vector control

“…The previous investigations on Culex species microbiota were run by conventional bacterial culture, PCR 16S rRNA, and DNA sequencing for the detection of various bacterial strains ( 40 , 41 ) and continued by up-to-date approaches: RNA shotgun metagenomic sequencing, next generation sequencing, culturomics, and MALDI-TOF MS ( 24 , 42 – 44 ). Next-generation sequencing method revealed the presence of Wolbachia, Streptococcus, Stenotrophomonas, Staphylococcus, Corynebacterium, and Rothia in ovaries of female Cx.…”

Genomic Characterization of Mycoplasma arginini Isolated from a Housefly on a Dairy Farm and Comparison with Isolates from Bovine Milk and Lung Tissue

“…It is essential to consider that microbial contamination from the dairy environment also includes residues of milk, from either healthy or diseased cows, that could persist in the environment due to poor sanitation and hygiene dairy practices. Milk residue on utensils and milking equipment represent feeding elements for flies ( 47 ). Once fed and when flies find another food source or place to lay eggs, the crop fluids are either externally released by regurgitation or ingested internally to the gut to be then re-emitted into the environment by defecation.…”

Isolation and identification of novel selective antitumor constituents, sidrin and sidroside, from Zizyphus spina-christi

“…Previous studies on the leaves, fruits, and barks of Z. spina-christi have reported that these plant parts exhibit hypoglycemic, antihyperglycemic ( Abdel-Zaheret al, 2005 , Glombitzaet al, 1994 , Nesseemet al, 2009 ), antidiabetic ( Takım, 2021 ), antidiarrheal ( Adlyet al, 2022 , Adzuet al, 2003 , Neamahet al, 2022 ), antibacterial ( El Kutry and Sopeah, 2020 ), antinociceptive ( Adzuet al, 2001 , Dhanalekshmiet al, 2022 ), analgesic, antihyperlipidemic, and antioxidant effects ( Adzu and Haruna, 2010 , Alsayari and Wahab, 2021 , Dkhilet al, 2018 , Husseinet al, 2006 ). In addition, the ethanolic extract of the leaves of this species has been reported to inhibit the growth of Bacillus subtilis and exert moderate antipyretic and considerable anti-inflammatory activities ( Tanira et al, 1988 ).…”