Lack of Zika Virus and Other Recognized Flaviviruses among the Mosquito Vectors during and Post the Hajj Mass Gathering

Abstract

Makkah city, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), contains many of the world’s mosquito vectors of parasitic and arboviral disease and is the site of the Hajj mass gathering. As such there is a risk of exportation and globalization of vector-borne viruses, including the re-emerging Zika virus (ZIKV). There was international concern regarding the introduction of ZIKV to KSA and potential international spread of the virus following the 2016 Hajj which took place few days after the Rio summer Olympics at the height of the ZIKV pandemic. We aimed to detect flaviviruses, including ZIKV, circulating among mosquito hosts in the city of Makkah during and post the 2016 Hajj pilgrimage. Mosquitos (adults and larvae) were sampled from 15 sites in Makkah city during and post the 2016 Hajj and identified to species by morphological keys. Mosquitos were pooled according to date of collection, location, and species. A Pan-Flaviviruses RT-PCR assay that enables identification of 51 flaviviruses species and three tentative species was used to detect flavivirus RNA directly from mosquito homogenates. Between the 10 September and 6 October 2016, 9412 female mosquitos were collected. Of these, 81.3% were Aedes aegypti, 18.6% were Culex species, and 0.1% were Anopheles species. Of the total 493 mosquito pools generated, 242 (49%) were positive by the Pan-Flaviviruses primer set. Sequence analysis revealed that none of the mosquitos carried a pathogenic flavivirus, including ZIKV, but were infected with a novel insect-specific flavivirus. We found no pathogenic flaviviruses circulating in Makkah city during and post the 2016 Hajj and no evidence of introduction of ZIKV through the pilgrimage. Enhanced vector-borne diseases surveillance, prevention, and control are crucial in KSA especially during international mass gatherings such as the annual Hajj to prevent outbreaks and the spread of viruses with epidemic and pandemic potentials.

A tangled threesome: understanding arbovirus infection in Aedes spp. and the effect of the mosquito microbiota

“…A. aegypti and A. albopictus are commonly infected with ISVs ( Supplementary Figure 2 and Supplementary Table 1 ) (Hoshino et al, 2009 ; Rizzo et al, 2014 ; Vasilakis et al, 2014 ; Chandler et al, 2015 ; Fan et al, 2016 ; Fernandes et al, 2016 ; Sadeghi et al, 2017 ; Ajamma et al, 2018 ; Fang et al, 2018 , 2021a , b ; Iwashita et al, 2018 ; Parry et al, 2018 , 2021 ; Zakrzewski et al, 2018 ; Zhang et al, 2018 ; Gravina et al, 2019 ; Martin et al, 2019 , 2020 ; Shi et al, 2019 ; Baidaliuk et al, 2020 ; da Silva Ferreira et al, 2020 ; Diagne et al, 2020 ; Jeffries et al, 2020 ; Kubacki et al, 2020 ; Ramos-Nino et al, 2020 ; Ribeiro et al, 2020 ; Supriyono et al, 2020 ; Thannesberger et al, 2020 ; Batson et al, 2021 ; Chiuya et al, 2021 ; Hameed et al, 2021 ; He et al, 2021 ; Munivenkatappa et al, 2021 ; Nebbak et al, 2021 ; Yezli et al, 2021 ; Calle-Tobón et al, 2022 ; Coatsworth et al, 2022 ; Duarte et al, 2022 ; Oguzie et al, 2022 ; Palatini et al, 2022 ; Aragão et al, 2023 ; Bennouna et al, 2023 ) that may alter their vectorial competence (Bolling et al, 2015 ; Öhlund et al, 2019 ). Phasi Charoen-like virus (PCLV) and Humaita Tubiacanga virus (HTV) are common ISVs found in A. aegypti , and A. albopictus ( Supplementary Figure 2 ).…”

Coronavirus and co-infections: A Saudi Arabian perspective

“…Furthermore, thermal cameras are installed at all borders. In a recent study, screening for summary, flaviviruses among mosquitoes in 2016 accomplished during Hajj period, and at the height of the zika virus epidemic was accomplished and no known flaviviruses were revealed, but possibly a novel type of flavivirus was detected ( Yesli et al, 2021 ). However, future studies are needed to investigate the novel mosquito virus identified.…”