Species Composition and Geographic Distribution of Culicinae Mosquitoes and Their Possible Infection with West Nile Virus in Hormozgan Province, Southern Iran

Abbas  Poudat; Hamideh  Edalat; Morteza  Zaim; Farhad  Rezaei; Yaser  Salim Abadi; Hamid Reza  Basseri

doi:10.18502/ijph.v52i4.12454

Abbas Poudat Department of Medical Entomology and Vector Control, School of Public Health, International Campus, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Hamideh Edalat Department of Medical Entomology and Vector Control, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Morteza Zaim Department of Medical Entomology and Vector Control, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Farhad Rezaei Department of Virology, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Yaser Salim Abadi Department of Health Services and Health Promotion, School of Health, Rafsanjan University of Medical Sciences, Rafsanjan, Iran
Hamid Reza Basseri Department of Medical Entomology and Vector Control, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18502/ijph.v52i4.12454

Keywords: West Nile virus; Culicidae mosquitoes; Iran

Abstract

Background: West Nile virus (WNV) is a mosquito-borne virus that causes a febrile disease and may cause a fatal neurological illness in humans. We aimed to investigate the geographic distribution of Culicinae mosquitoes and their possible infection with WNV in Hormozgan Province, southern Iran.

Methods: Field studies were carried out from June 2017 to May 2019. Different mosquito sampling methods were used monthly to collect mosquitoes from 22 sites. The Real-Time PCR technique was used to detect the virus infection in the mosquitoes.

Results: Overall, 6165 mosquitoes were caught. The species were Culex theileri (33.25%), Cx. pipiens (20.45%), Cx. quinquefasciatus (10.51%), Aedes caspius (6.33%), Cx. tritaeniorhynchus (5.82%), Ae. vexans (4.10%), Cx. sinaiticus (3.62%), Cx. antennatus (3.29%), Culiseta longiareolata (2.81%), Cx. perexiguus (2.03%), Cs. subochrea (1.95%), Cx. mimeticus (1.49%), Cx. pusillus (1.38%), Cx. univittatus (1.27%), Cx. modestus (1.14%), and Cx. sitiens (0.57%). The molecular detection of virus infection in mosquitoes found to be negative for WNV.

Conclusion: The presence of many species of mosquito vectors and high population traffic increase the risk of disease transmission is very high. Therefore, the way to restrict WNV infection factors is increasing the knowledge for personal protection measures to prevent mosquito bites.