New records of Aedes aegypti at the southern limit of its distribution in Buenos Aires province, Argentina

Genetic Evidence of Expansion by Passive Transport of Aedes (Stegomyia) aegypti in Eastern Argentina

“…aegypti in the southeast of the country, confirming the last record of this species in Chascomús but also finding the species between March 2011 and 2012 in towns along Route Number (N°) 2 for the first time, specifically at the city of Dolores, which is 98.7 km from Chascomús (Fig 1) [15]. Recently, Zanotti et al [9] reported Villa Gesell, a small town on Provincial Route N° 11 at 110 km from Mar del Plata and 376 km from the city of Buenos Aires, as the southernmost limit.…”

“…However, we might think that in this expansion area there is a passive dispersal, probably due to the human movement between these locations, understanding human movement as not only commuting of people but also trading. Passive transport of eggs, larvae, and adults has been suggested as the main mechanism for long-distance dispersal not only by the terrestrial trade of used tires [9,24], other goods [25], and tourism [26] but also by other types of transportation like planes [27] and boats [28,29]. …”

“…According to the last census, Argentina has approximately 40 million people (National Institute of Statistics and Censuses of Argentina [INDEC], Census 2010), and over 38 million live in areas suitable for the transmission of dengue and chikungunya viruses [8]. Moreover, although there were 22 imported cases of Zika and 24 autochthonous cases confirmed in Argentina, there is a high incidence of cases in Brazil, and besides that, there is an internal circulation of the virus in the neighboring countries Brazil, Paraguay, and Bolivia [7,8], in addition to the constant expansion of the mosquito vector [9]. …”

“…However, in 1986 the mosquito was detected in the northeast of the country in the border with Paraguay, and some years later, it was found in northwestern and central areas. As a consequence, the current geographical distribution of the species is wider than before its eradication [10,11], with a fast and constant expansion to the south [9]. …”

First report of Stegomyia aegypti (= Aedes aegypti) in Mexico City, Mexico

“…in Bolivia (Ruiz-López et al, 2016). In Argentina, the presence of this species in locations at which temperatures fall below 15 ∘ C has been frequently observed (Zanotti et al, 2015). Although egg hatching is impacted by temperature, studies suggest local adaptation to cold winter conditions (Byttebier et al, 2014;De Majo et al, 2016).…”