The Others: A Systematic Review of the Lesser-Known Arboviruses of the Insular Caribbean

Abstract

The Caribbean enjoys a long-standing eminence as a popular tourist destination; however, over the years it has also amassed the sobriquet “arbovirus hotspot”. As the planet warms and vectors expand their habitats, a cognizant working knowledge of the lesser-known arboviruses and the factors that influence their emergence and resurgence becomes essential. The extant literature on Caribbean arboviruses is spread across decades of published literature and is quite often difficult to access, and, in some cases, is obsolete. Here, we look at the lesser-known arboviruses of the insular Caribbean and examine some of the drivers for their emergence and resurgence. We searched the scientific literature databases PubMed and Google Scholar for peer-reviewed literature as well as scholarly reports. We included articles and reports that describe works resulting in serological evidence of the presence of arboviruses and/or arbovirus isolations in the insular Caribbean. Studies without serological evidence and/or arbovirus isolations as well as those including dengue, chikungunya, Zika, and yellow fever were excluded. Of the 545 articles identified, 122 met the inclusion criteria. A total of 42 arboviruses were identified in the literature. These arboviruses and the drivers that affect their emergence/resurgence are discussed.

Tick-borne viruses and their risk to public health in the Caribbean: Spotlight on bats as reservoirs in Cuba

“…The latter was isolated from a group of tick larvae of Amblyomma cajennense s.l. in Jamaica in 1965 [ 13 ]. Currently, it is unknown whether the Wad Medani virus can be pathogenic to livestock and humans [ 32 ].…”

“…A recent article [ 5 ] described ticks from the Argasidae family, including species of Antricola and Ornithodoros found in bat guano. Earlier investigations documented the isolation of the Hughes virus from Ornithodoros denmarki ticks parasitizing birds and the Estero real virus from Ornithodoros tadaridae ticks parasitizing bats [ 13 ]. However, subsequent to these findings, there have been no reported instances of virus isolations from ticks infecting bats.…”

Assessing the effectiveness, biosafety, and resident’s perception of a micro-encapsulated propoxur paint against Aedes aegypti: a field trial in a dengue-affected community of Sonora, Mexico

“…Understanding lesser-known arboviruses and the factors contributing to their emergence and resurgence in the region has become crucial. Some of these arboviruses, such as the West Nile virus, have undergone a significant geographic expansion into the Americas and pose a threat of becoming future pandemics for the region [72]. Not only do these viruses pose a threat to public health, but the emergence of other invasive mosquito species, such as Aedes japonicus (Theobald, 1901), reported in North America [73,74], and Aedes vittatus (Bigot, 1861), recently identified in the insular Caribbean [75,76], also presents a significant risk.…”