Mosquito Fauna and Spatial Distribution in an Atlantic Forest Area in Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil, Reveal a High Risk of Transmission of Yellow Fever and Other Arboviruses

Abstract

In 2017–2019, Brazil recorded its most severe outbreak of yellow fever due to the spread of the virus (YFV) in the country’s southeast. Here, we investigated mosquito fauna and the spatial distribution of species in a primatology center in the Atlantic Forest bioregion in Rio de Janeiro state to evaluate the risk of YFV transmission in distinct environments. Fortnightly mosquito collections were performed from December 2018 to December 2019 at 12 sites along a disturbance gradient from a modified environment to 400 m inside the forest. We used ovitraps, BG-Sentinel, and protected human attraction (PHA). A total of 9349 mosquitoes of 21 species were collected. The collection method strongly influenced the captured fauna, with species such as Anopheles cruzii, Psorophora ferox, Runchomyia cerqueirai, Wyeomyia incaudata, Wy. theobaldi, Sabethes chloropterus, and Sa. albiprivus only collected via PHA. Collections with ovitraps resulted in low diversity and richness, with Haemagogus leucocelaenus and Hg. janthinomys/capricornii predominating. The diverse local fauna and the abundance and ubiquity of the latter species, which are the primary vectors of YFV, indicated that this area was highly vulnerable to arbovirus transmission, especially yellow fever, highlighting the need for improved surveillance and vaccination coverage in human and captive endangered non-human primates.

Where boundaries become bridges: Mosquito community composition, key vectors, and environmental associations at forest edges in the central Brazilian Amazon

“…We used three complimentary sampling methods to maximize representation of mosquito fauna in the study area. Species abundance was highest among BG-Sentinel trap collections (75.6% of all mosquitoes sampled), which was expected and agrees with other work in forests utilizing multiple sampling methods [ 16 , 33 ]. However, these data were somewhat inflated by relatively rare sampling events of large numbers of Psorophora and Culex mosquitoes ( S1 Dataset ).…”

“…We sampled deeper into the forest and at a coarser resolution in the present study, where we generally found a peak in richness and diversity towards the edge, which declined beyond 500 m. Species accumulation curves showed that rarer taxa remained to be sampled, particularly at 500 m, although these are less likely to serve as bridge vectors given their relative scarcity. Similar results from other studies highlight the difficulty of sampling mosquito species to saturation at ground level in forested environments [40,41], especially given biases associated with different sampling methods [16,33,42].…”

Beyond Borders: Investigating the Mysteries of Cacipacoré, a Lesser-Studied Arbovirus in Brazil

“…Brazil is a hotspot for arboviral diseases, mainly due to its constellation of biodiverse ecotypes, which include: (a) the Amazon basin, encompassing the largest rainforest in the world [18][19][20][21][22], (b) the Atlantic forest, with the largest biodiversity and extending as far south and inland as Argentina and Paraguay [23][24][25][26][27], (c) the Pantanal, considered to be the largest wetland globally [6,[28][29][30][31][32][33][34], and (d) the Cerrado, a vast region of tropical savanna in eastern Brazil [35][36][37][38].…”

Beyond Borders: Investigating the Mysteries of Cacipacoré, a Lesser-Studied Arbovirus in Brazil

“…Brazil is a hotspot for arboviral diseases, mainly due to its constellation of biodiverse ecotypes, which include: (a) the Amazon basin, encompassing the largest rainforest in the world [ 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 ], (b) the Atlantic forest, with the largest biodiversity and extending as far south and inland as Argentina and Paraguay [ 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 ], (c) the Pantanal, considered to be the largest wetland globally [ 6 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 ], and (d) the Cerrado, a vast region of tropical savanna in eastern Brazil [ 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 ].…”