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West Nile Virus lineage‐2 in Culex specimens from Iran
Author(s) -
Shahhosseini Nariman,
Chinikar Sadegh,
MoosaKazemi Seyed Hassan,
Sedaghat Mohammad Mehdi,
Kayedi Mohammad Hassan,
Lühken Renke,
SchmidtChanasit Jonas
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
tropical medicine and international health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.056
H-Index - 114
eISSN - 1365-3156
pISSN - 1360-2276
DOI - 10.1111/tmi.12935
Subject(s) - arbovirus , virology , flavivirus , biology , culex pipiens , culex , dengue virus , phylogenetic tree , lineage (genetic) , vector (molecular biology) , dengue fever , flaviviridae , amplicon , virus , zoology , polymerase chain reaction , genetics , ecology , viral disease , gene , larva , recombinant dna
Objective Screening of mosquitoes for viruses is an important forecasting tool for emerging and re‐emerging arboviruses. Iran has been known to harbour medically important arboviruses such as West Nile virus ( WNV ) and dengue virus ( DENV ) based on seroepidemiological data. However, there are no data about the potential mosquito vectors for arboviruses in Iran. This study was performed to provide mosquito and arbovirus data from Iran. Materials and Methods A total of 32 317 mosquitos were collected at 16 sites in five provinces of Iran in 2015 and 2016. RT ‐ PCR for detection of flaviviruses was performed. The PCR amplicons were sequenced, and 109 WNV sequences, including one obtained in this study, were used for phylogenetic analyses. Results The 32 317 mosquito specimens belonging to 25 species were morphologically distinguished and distributed into 1222 pools. Culex pipiens s.l. comprised 56.429%. One mosquito pool (0.08%), containing 46 unfed Cx. pipiens pipiens form pipiens (Cpp) captured in August 2015 , was positive for flavivirus RNA . Subsequent sequencing and phylogenetic analyses revealed that the detected Iranian WNV strain belongs to lineage 2 and clusters with a strain recently detected in humans. No flaviviruses other than WNV were detected in the mosquito pools. Conclusion Cpp could be a vector for WNV in Iran. Our findings indicate recent circulation of WNV lineage‐2 strain in Iran and provide a solid base for more targeted arbovirus surveillance programs.