Metagenomics of Mosquito-borne Flaviviruses in Various Geoclimatic Districts of Punjab, Pakistan

Abstract

Mosquitoes are highly active vectors capable of transmitting various pathogenic and infectious diseases to humans and animals. The present study was designed to identify the major species of mosquitoes and mosquito-borne flaviviruses (Saint Louis Encephalitis, West Nile and Dengue Viruses) prevalent in three districts of Punjab representing the three agro-geoclimatic zones viz; Multan, Chakwal and Jhang. The collected mosquitoes were stereoscopically identified to confirm the species and sex of the mosquitoes. Stereoscopic identification confirmed that female mosquitoes were 4334 out of 10675 (40.6%), 2242 out of 7296 (30%) and 2040 out of 6450 (31.6%) from districts Chakwal, Jhang and Multan, respectively. It was concluded that Culex species were present in abundance (73.2%) as compared to Aedes species (26.7%) in the selected study districts. The results of multiplex RT-PCR depicted that Dengue, West Nile, Japanese encephalitis and Saint Louis encephalitis viruses were prevalent in the mosquitoes of all three selected districts. However, the prevalence of mosquito-borne viruses insignificantly varied (P>0.05) among the three districts. This study has provided a better understanding of the prevailing mosquito species and mosquito-borne viruses in the study districts that can help to devise appropriate control measures