Amplification of the sylvatic cycle of dengue virus type 2, Senegal, 1999-2000: entomologic findings and epidemiologic considerations

Emerg Infect Dis. 2003 Mar;9(3):362-7. doi: 10.3201/eid0903.020219.

Abstract

After 8 years of silence, dengue virus serotype 2 (DENV-2) reemerged in southeastern Senegal in 1999. Sixty-four DENV-2 strains were isolated in 1999 and 9 strains in 2000 from mosquitoes captured in the forest gallery and surrounding villages. Isolates were obtained from previously described vectors, Aedes furcifer, Ae. taylori, Ae. luteocephalus, and--for the first time in Senegal--from Ae. aegypti and Ae. vittatus. A retrospective analysis of sylvatic DENV-2 outbreaks in Senegal during the last 28 years of entomologic investigations shows that amplifications are periodic, with intervening, silent intervals of 5-8 years. No correlation was found between sylvatic DENV-2 emergence and rainfall amount. For sylvatic DENV-2 vectors, rainfall seems to particularly affect virus amplification that occurs at the end of the rainy season, from October to November. Data obtained from investigation of preimaginal (i.e., nonadult) mosquitoes suggest a secondary transmission cycle involving mosquitoes other than those identified previously as vectors.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Aedes / virology*
  • Animals
  • Dengue Virus / isolation & purification*
  • Dengue Virus / pathogenicity
  • Female
  • Male
  • Rain
  • Senegal