Department of Medical Entomology and Vector Control, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Department of Virology, School of Medicine, Urmia University of Medical Sciences, Urmia, Iran.
Acta Trop. 2021 Aug;220:105952. doi: 10.1016/j.actatropica.2021.105952. Epub 2021 May 9.
Sindbis virus (SINV) and Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) are among the most widely spread mosquito-borne viruses worldwide. Due to the key role of mosquitoes in the transmission cycle of vector-borne diseases, models such as Maximum Entropy (MaxEnt) have been used in recent years to predict the environmental suitability and ecological niches of mosquito vectors. Infection of three mosquito species (Anopheles maculipennis s.l., Culex tritaeniorhynchus, and Culiseta longiareolata) with CHIKV has recently been reported in Iran. However, given the importance of vector-borne diseases in the country, there is a need for extensive studies on the infection of mosquitoes with CHIKV and SINV in different areas of the country. Accordingly, the current research was conducted to investigate the infection of mosquitoes with the two aforementioned viruses in the northwestern part of Iran and also to model the ecological niches of the vectors of these mosquito-borne viruses in the country. In the current study, 4639 mosquito specimens, consisting of 2515 adults and 2124 larvae, were collected from the wetlands of West Azerbaijan Province and identified. Ten species belonging to four genera were identified in this study. The specimens were allocated to 149 pools for the determination of infection with CHIKV and SINV. The amplification pattern of five pools comprising two mosquito species (Culex pipiens complex and Cx. Theileri) corresponded to the reference strain of SINV, and the isolates were sequenced to confirm the presence of SINV genome. No cases of CHIKV infection were found among the 149 examined mosquito pools. Data on the distribution of Cx. Pipiens complex and Cx. Theileri were mapped using ArcMap 10.5. Prediction maps of the presence probability for these species revealed that they are most likely to be found in and spread to the north, northwest, south, and southeastern areas of the country and in areas with abundant water resources. For the first time in Iran, our study investigated the presence probability of SINV vectors using ecological niche modeling. Ecological niche profiling showed that the most suitable habitats for Cx. pipiens are mainly concentrated in the north and northwestern parts of the country, whereas Cx. theileri is mostly located in the northwest and western regions. However, there were some other areas of low suitability for these two species in the country. Further studies in a broader geographical area with more species of mosquitos and the determination of infection with other mosquito-borne viruses can provide a clear understanding of the potential spread of mosquito-borne diseases in various regions of Iran.
辛德毕斯病毒（SINV）和基孔肯雅病毒（CHIKV）是全球分布最广泛的蚊媒病毒之一。由于蚊子在虫媒疾病传播周期中的关键作用，近年来最大熵（MaxEnt）等模型已被用于预测蚊子媒介的环境适宜性和生态位。最近在伊朗报告了三种蚊子（斑蚊、三带喙库蚊和长角库蚊）感染基孔肯雅病毒。然而，鉴于虫媒疾病在该国的重要性，需要在该国不同地区广泛研究蚊子感染基孔肯雅病毒和辛德毕斯病毒的情况。因此，进行了当前的研究，以调查伊朗西北部地区蚊子感染这两种病毒的情况，并对该国这些蚊媒病毒的媒介的生态位进行建模。在本研究中，从西阿塞拜疆省的湿地中采集了 4639 只蚊子标本，包括 2515 只成虫和 2124 只幼虫。在这项研究中，鉴定出属于四个属的 10 个种。将标本分为 149 个池，以确定 CHIKV 和 SINV 的感染情况。五个包含两种蚊子（库蚊复合体和 Cx.Theileri）的池的扩增模式与 SINV 的参考株相对应，对分离株进行测序以确认 SINV 基因组的存在。在所检查的 149 个蚊子池中未发现基孔肯雅病毒感染的病例。使用 ArcMap 10.5 绘制了库蚊复合体和 Cx.Theileri 的分布数据。这些物种存在概率的预测图表明，它们最有可能在该国的北部、西北部、南部和东南部以及水资源丰富的地区发现和传播。这是伊朗首次使用生态位建模研究辛德毕斯病毒媒介的存在概率。生态位分析表明，库蚊的最适栖息地主要集中在该国的北部和西北部，而 Cx.Theileri 主要分布在西北部和西部地区。然而，该国其他一些地区也适合这两个物种。在更广泛的地理区域内进行更多种蚊子的研究，并确定其他蚊媒病毒的感染情况，可以更清楚地了解蚊媒疾病在伊朗各地区的潜在传播情况。
