Evaluation of honey-baited FTA cards in combination with different mosquito traps in an area of low arbovirus prevalence.
- Wipf NC Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Socinstrasse 57, P.O. Box, 4002, Basel, Switzerland.
- Guidi V Laboratory of Applied Microbiology, University of Applied, Sciences and Arts of Southern Switzerland, Via Mirasole 22a, 6501, Bellinzona, Switzerland.
- Tonolla M Laboratory of Applied Microbiology, University of Applied, Sciences and Arts of Southern Switzerland, Via Mirasole 22a, 6501, Bellinzona, Switzerland.
- Ruinelli M Laboratory of Applied Microbiology, University of Applied, Sciences and Arts of Southern Switzerland, Via Mirasole 22a, 6501, Bellinzona, Switzerland.
- Müller P Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Socinstrasse 57, P.O. Box, 4002, Basel, Switzerland. pie.mueller@swisstph.ch.
- Engler O Spiez Laboratory, Federal Office for Civil Protection, Austrasse, 3700, Spiez, Switzerland.
- 2019-11-23
Published in:
- Parasites & vectors. - 2019
Arbovirus surveillance
Culicidae
Disease control
Mosquito-only flaviviruses
Nucleic acid preservation cards
Usutu virus
Aedes
Animals
Arboviruses
Culex
Entomology
Honey
Molecular Diagnostic Techniques
Mosquito Vectors
Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
Sensitivity and Specificity
Switzerland
English
BACKGROUND
The threat of mosquito-borne diseases is increasing in continental Europe as demonstrated by several autochthonous chikungunya, dengue and West Nile virus outbreaks. In Switzerland, despite the presence of competent vectors, routine surveillance of arboviruses in mosquitoes is not being carried out, mainly due to the high costs associated with the need of a constant cold chain and laborious processing of thousands of mosquitoes. An alternative approach is using honey-baited nucleic acid preserving cards (FTA cards) to collect mosquito saliva that may be analysed for arboviruses. Here, we evaluate whether FTA cards could be used to detect potentially emerging viruses in an area of low virus prevalence in combination with an effective mosquito trap.
METHODS
In a field trial in southern Switzerland we measured side-by-side the efficacy of the BG-Sentinel 2, the BG-GAT and the Box gravid trap to catch Aedes and Culex mosquitoes in combination with honey-baited FTA cards during 80 trapping sessions of 48 hours. We then screened both the mosquitoes and the FTA cards for the presence of arboviruses using reverse-transcription PCR. The efficacy of the compared trap types was evaluated using generalized linear mixed models.
RESULTS
The Box gravid trap collected over 11 times more mosquitoes than the BG-GAT and BG-Sentinel 2 trap. On average 75.9% of the specimens fed on the honey-bait with no significant difference in feeding rates between the three trap types. From the total of 1401 collected mosquitoes, we screened 507 Aedes and 500 Culex females for the presence of arboviruses. A pool of six Cx. pipiens/Cx. torrentium mosquitoes and also the FTA card from the same Box gravid trap were positive for Usutu virus. Remarkably, only two of the six Culex mosquitoes fed on the honey-bait, emphasising the high sensitivity of the method. In addition, two Ae. albopictus collections but no FTA cards were positive for mosquito-only flaviviruses.
CONCLUSIONS
Based on our results we conclude that honey-baited FTA cards, in combination with the Box gravid trap, are an effective method for arbovirus surveillance in areas of low prevalence, particularly where resources are limited for preservation and screening of individual mosquitoes.
The threat of mosquito-borne diseases is increasing in continental Europe as demonstrated by several autochthonous chikungunya, dengue and West Nile virus outbreaks. In Switzerland, despite the presence of competent vectors, routine surveillance of arboviruses in mosquitoes is not being carried out, mainly due to the high costs associated with the need of a constant cold chain and laborious processing of thousands of mosquitoes. An alternative approach is using honey-baited nucleic acid preserving cards (FTA cards) to collect mosquito saliva that may be analysed for arboviruses. Here, we evaluate whether FTA cards could be used to detect potentially emerging viruses in an area of low virus prevalence in combination with an effective mosquito trap.
METHODS
In a field trial in southern Switzerland we measured side-by-side the efficacy of the BG-Sentinel 2, the BG-GAT and the Box gravid trap to catch Aedes and Culex mosquitoes in combination with honey-baited FTA cards during 80 trapping sessions of 48 hours. We then screened both the mosquitoes and the FTA cards for the presence of arboviruses using reverse-transcription PCR. The efficacy of the compared trap types was evaluated using generalized linear mixed models.
RESULTS
The Box gravid trap collected over 11 times more mosquitoes than the BG-GAT and BG-Sentinel 2 trap. On average 75.9% of the specimens fed on the honey-bait with no significant difference in feeding rates between the three trap types. From the total of 1401 collected mosquitoes, we screened 507 Aedes and 500 Culex females for the presence of arboviruses. A pool of six Cx. pipiens/Cx. torrentium mosquitoes and also the FTA card from the same Box gravid trap were positive for Usutu virus. Remarkably, only two of the six Culex mosquitoes fed on the honey-bait, emphasising the high sensitivity of the method. In addition, two Ae. albopictus collections but no FTA cards were positive for mosquito-only flaviviruses.
CONCLUSIONS
Based on our results we conclude that honey-baited FTA cards, in combination with the Box gravid trap, are an effective method for arbovirus surveillance in areas of low prevalence, particularly where resources are limited for preservation and screening of individual mosquitoes.
- Language
-
- English
- Open access status
- gold
- Identifiers
-
- DOI 10.1186/s13071-019-3798-8
- PMID 31753035
- Persistent URL
- https://folia.unifr.ch/global/documents/273595
Statistics
Document views: 16
File downloads:
- fulltext.pdf: 0