First record of West Nile Virus detection inside wild mosquitoes in Khartoum capital of Sudan using PCR

Rania Ali El Hadi Mohamed; Deena M Abdelgadir; Hind M Bashab; Laila A Al-Shuraym; Fadilah Sfouq Aleanizy; Fulwah Y Alqahtani; Lamya Ahmed Al-Keridis; Nahla Mohamed

doi:10.1016/j.sjbs.2020.08.047

First record of West Nile Virus detection inside wild mosquitoes in Khartoum capital of Sudan using PCR

Saudi J Biol Sci. 2020 Dec;27(12):3359-3364. doi: 10.1016/j.sjbs.2020.08.047. Epub 2020 Sep 6.

Authors

Rania Ali El Hadi Mohamed^{1

2}, Deena M Abdelgadir², Hind M Bashab², Laila A Al-Shuraym¹, Fadilah Sfouq Aleanizy³, Fulwah Y Alqahtani³, Lamya Ahmed Al-Keridis¹, Nahla Mohamed^{4

5}

Affiliations

¹ Faculty of Science, Biology Department, Princess Nourah Bint Abdurrahman University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
² Scientific Researchers, Federal Ministry of Health, Khartoum, Sudan.
³ Department of Pharmaceutics, College of Pharmacy, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
⁴ Uppsala UniversityNorbyvägen; 18 DSE-752 36 Uppsala Sweden.
⁵ College of Medicine, Virology unit, Princess Nourah Bint Abdurrahman University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Abstract

This study aimed to explore the presence of West Nile Virus (WNV) inside four species of mosquitoes: Culex univittatus (Theobald), Culex quinquefasciatus (Say) Aedes vittatus (Bigot) and Aedes vexans (Meigen). Adult wild mosquitoes were collected from different sites: Soba West, Hellat Kuku, Shambat, and Khartoum North Central Live Stock Market (KCLM). Surveys were carried out at Khartoum State during two phases: pre to the rainy season and post to the rainy season. Mosquito specimens were identified using classical keys then preserved at -80 °C freezer for two weeks till the virus examination using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) were carried out. WNV has been detected inside the three species of mosquitoes: A. vexans, C. univittatus, and C. quinquefasciatus. The species were collected from Hellat Kuku, (Shambat and Hellat Kuku), and (Shambat and KCLM) respectively. Two species of mosquitoes were positive for the virus: C. quinquefasciatus and C. univittatus. Positive results for the virus during the first phase of the study; males of C. quinquefasciatus and C. univittatus collected during the second phase of the study were also tested for the existence of the virus and they were positive. For our knowledge this study represents first record of WNV inside wild mosquitoes in Sudan. PCR technique provided reliable information because specific primer-probe sets were used for the detection of the virus. Extra studies are required to incriminate these species of mosquitoes as potential vectors of WNV.

Keywords: Mosquitoes; Polymerase chain reaction; Sudan; West Nile Virus.