Identification of the Tembusu Virus in Mosquitoes in Northern Thailand

Rodolphe Hamel; Ronald Enrique Morales Vargas; Dora Murielle Rajonhson; Atsushi Yamanaka; Jiraporn Jaroenpool; Sineewanlaya Wichit; Dorothée Missé; Anamika Kritiyakan; Kittipong Chaisiri; Serge Morand; Julien Pompon

doi:10.3390/v15071447

Identification of the Tembusu Virus in Mosquitoes in Northern Thailand

Viruses. 2023 Jun 27;15(7):1447. doi: 10.3390/v15071447.

Authors

Rodolphe Hamel^{1

2

3}, Ronald Enrique Morales Vargas^{4

5}, Dora Murielle Rajonhson⁴, Atsushi Yamanaka⁶, Jiraporn Jaroenpool^{7

8}, Sineewanlaya Wichit^{2

3}, Dorothée Missé¹, Anamika Kritiyakan⁹, Kittipong Chaisiri¹⁰, Serge Morand^{1

9}, Julien Pompon¹

Affiliations

¹ MIVEGEC, Université de Montpellier, IRD, CNRS, 34394 Montpellier, France.
² Department of Clinical Microbiology and Applied Technology, Faculty of Medical Technology, Mahidol University, Nakhon Pathom 73170, Thailand.
³ Viral Vector Joint Unit, Join Laboratory, Mahidol University, Nakhon Pathom 73170, Thailand.
⁴ Department of Medical Entomology, Faculty of Tropical Medicine, Mahidol University, Bangkok 10400, Thailand.
⁵ Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Science, Mahidol University, Bangkok 10400, Thailand.
⁶ Research Institute for Microbial Diseases, Osaka University, Osaka 565-0871, Japan.
⁷ Department of Medical Technology, School of Allied Health Sciences, Walailak University, Nakhon Si Thammarat 80160, Thailand.
⁸ Excellent Center for Dengue and Community Public Health, Walailak University, Nakhon Si Thammarat 80160, Thailand.
⁹ Faculty of Veterinary Technology, Kasetsart University, Bangkok 10900, Thailand.
¹⁰ Department of Helminthology, Faculty of Tropical Medicine, Mahidol University, Bangkok 10900, Thailand.

Abstract

Among emerging zoonotic pathogens, mosquito-borne viruses (MBVs) circulate between vertebrate animals and mosquitoes and represent a serious threat to humans via spillover from enzootic cycles to the human community. Active surveillance of MBVs in their vectors is therefore essential to better understand and prevent spillover and emergence, especially at the human-animal interface. In this study, we assessed the presence of MBVs using molecular and phylogenetic methods in mosquitoes collected along an ecological gradient ranging from rural urbanized areas to highland forest areas in northern Thailand. We have detected the presence of insect specific flaviviruses in our samples, and the presence of the emerging zoonotic Tembusu virus (TMUV). Reported for the first time in 1955 in Malaysia, TMUV remained for a long time in the shadow of other flaviviruses such as dengue virus or the Japanese encephalitis virus. In this study, we identified two new TMUV strains belonging to cluster 3, which seems to be endemic in rural areas of Thailand and highlighted the genetic specificities of this Thai cluster. Our results show the active circulation of this emerging flavivirus in Thailand and the need for continuous investigation on this poorly known but threatening virus in Asia.

Keywords: Culex mosquito; Tembusu virus; emergent arboviruses; mosquito-borne viruses.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Animals
Culex*
Culicidae*
Flavivirus* / genetics
Humans
Mosquito Vectors
Phylogeny
Thailand / epidemiology

Supplementary concepts

Tembusu virus

Grants and funding

This research was funded through (i) the French project INGENIOUS, supported by the Labex CEMEB and the I-SITE Excellence Program of the University of Montpellier, under the Investissements France 2030, granted to Dr. Rodolphe Hamel; (ii) the French project BILAO supported by FSPI OHSEA «One Health (Une seule Santé) en pratique en Asie du Sud-Est», a program supervised by IRD, CIRAD and CNRS and granted to Dr. Rodolphe Hamel; (iii) the French ANR Project FutureHealthSEA (grant number: ANR-17-CE35-0003-02) “Predictive scenarios of health in Southeast Asia: linking land use and climate changes to infectious diseases”, and supported by the Thailand International Cooperation Agency for the project “Innovative Animal Health” and National Research Council of Thailand, granted to Dr. Serge Morand; and (iiii) the ANR project V-DOSAGE (grant number: ANR-22-CE35-0012-03) granted to Dr. Julien Pompon. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. D.M. Rajonhson is a student enrolled in the international PhD program at the faculty of Tropical Medicine, Mahidol University, supported by the Organization for Women in Science for the Developing World (OWSD) and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA).