Analyses of Mosquito Species Composition, Blood-Feeding Habits and Infection with Insect-Specific Flaviviruses in Two Arid, Pastoralist-Dominated Counties in Kenya.

ABSTRACT: Insect-specific flaviviruses (ISFs), although not known to be pathogenic to humans and animals, can modulate the transmission of arboviruses by mosquitoes. In this study, we screened 6665 host-seeking, gravid and blood-fed mosquitoes for infection with flaviviruses and assessed the vertebrate hosts of the blood-fed mosquitoes sampled in Baringo and Kajiado counties; both dryland ecosystem counties in the Kenyan Rift Valley. Sequence fragments of two ISFs were detected. Cuacua virus (CuCuV) was found in three blood-fed Mansonia (Ma.) africana. The genome was sequenced by next-generation sequencing (NGS), confirming 95.8% nucleotide sequence identity to CuCuV detected in Mansonia sp. in Mozambique. Sequence fragments of a potential novel ISF showing nucleotide ide

SUBMITTER: Ogola EO 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10386387 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature