Metagenomic Sequencing Characterizes a Wide Diversity of Viruses in Field Mosquito Samples in Nigeria

Abstract

Mosquito vectors are a tremendous public health threat as one in six diseases worldwide is vector-borne transmitted mainly by mosquitoes. In the last couple of years, there have been active Yellow fever virus (YFV) outbreaks in many settings in Nigeria, and nationwide, entomological surveillance has been a significant effort geared towards understanding these outbreaks. In this study, we used a metagenomic sequencing approach to characterize viruses present in vector samples collected during various outbreaks of Yellow fever (YF) in Nigeria between 2017 and 2020. Mosquito samples were grouped into pools of one to fifty mosquitoes, each based on species, sex and location. Twenty-five pools of Aedes spp and one pool of Anopheles spp collected from nine states were sequenced and metagenomic analysis was carried out. We identified a wide diversity of viruses belonging to various families in this sample set. Seven different viruses detected included: Fako virus, Phasi Charoen-like virus, Verdadero virus, Chaq like-virus, Aedes aegypti totivirus, cell fusing agent virus and Tesano Aedes virus. Although there are no reports of these viruses being pathogenic, they are an understudied group in the same families and closely related to known pathogenic arboviruses. Our work shows the revolutionary power of genomics to help detect the presence of viruses in mosquito vectors and unravel their pathogenic potential. This can help develop diagnostics and vaccines to help prevent the diseases caused by these viruses before they cause outbreaks in human populations.

Aedes aegypti and Ae. albopictus microbiome/virome: new strategies for controlling arboviral transmission?

“…aegypti and Ae. albopictus conducted in different geographical areas of the world (Americas, Asia, Africa, Europe, and Australia) [73,107,121,[127][128][129][130][131][132][133][134] have identified that Aedes host a viral community with high diversity. Currently, the available data focus mainly on Ae.…”