Emerging arboviruses: Why today? (original) (raw)
Related papers
From dengue to Zika: the wide spread of mosquito-borne arboviruses
European journal of clinical microbiology & infectious diseases : official publication of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology, 2018
The worldwide invasion of arthropod-borne viruses (arboviruses) in recent decades is responsible for emerging public health threats. Some factors like climate change, urbanisation and uncontrolled population growth are fuelling their widespread. Arboviruses incorporate a vast collection of genetically diverse viral pathogens including that of dengue, Zika and chikungunya. These viruses are peculiar as they are zoonotic and are a serious harm to the society, with no particular therapy to neutralise their effect. So it is the need of the hour to develop an effective treatment against infections caused by them. This review focuses on some of the common families of mosquito-borne arboviruses and their most known members that are a threat to mankind and discusses their genome organisation, worldwide spread and negative influence on public health.
Chikungunya, Dengue, Zika, and Other Emerging Mosquito-Borne Viruses
2021
The past two decades have seen an explosive increase in emerging and reemerging infections, ranging from SARS and Ebola viruses, to epidemics of arthropod-borne viruses (arboviruses), including chikungunya and Zika viruses. Dengue and St. Louis encephalitis viruses have emerged from areas of the United States where they had been absent for over a decade. This alarming increase in number and frequency of outbreaks of vector-borne diseases, in particular, stems from the convergence of several factors. Abrupt changes in land use have brought humans closer to transmission cycles between vectors and non-human vertebrate hosts that previously had been strictly sylvatic. Rapid and unplanned urbanization due to spread of poverty has created opportunities for insect vectors, like Aedes albopictus, to establish urban endemicity by adapting breeding habits to thrive in man-made containers. Global warming has expanded the habitable range of vectors like Aedes aegypti. This chapter focuses on viruses transmitted by mosquitoes to highlight the importance of these emerging diseases. Only by learning from the past can we anticipate and prepare for the future.
PLOS ONE
Background Three arthropod-borne viruses (arboviruses) causing human disease have been the focus of a large number of studies in the Americas since 2013 due to their global spread and epidemiological impacts: Zika, dengue, and chikungunya viruses. A large proportion of infections by these viruses are asymptomatic. However, all three viruses are associated with moderate to severe health consequences in a small proportion of cases. Two mosquito species, Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus, are among the world's most prominent arboviral vectors, and are known vectors for all three viruses in the Americas. Objectives This review summarizes the state of the entomological literature surrounding the mosquito vectors of Zika, dengue and chikungunya viruses and factors affecting virus transmission. The rationale of the review was to identify and characterize entomological studies that have been conducted in the Americas since the introduction of chikungunya virus in 2013, encompassing a period of arbovirus co-circulation, and guide future research based on identified knowledge gaps. Methods The preliminary search for this review was conducted on PubMed (National Library of Health, Bethesda, MD, United States). The search included the terms 'zika' OR 'dengue'
Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases
Emerging mosquito-borne viruses continue to cause serious health problems and economic burden among billions of people living in and near the tropical belt of the world. The highly invasive mosquito species Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus have successively invaded and expanded their presence as key vectors of Chikungunya virus, dengue virus, yellow fever virus, and Zika virus, and that has consecutively led to frequent outbreaks of the corresponding viral diseases. Of note, these two mosquito species have gradually adapted to the changing weather and environmental conditions leading to a shift in the epidemiology of the viral diseases, and facilitated their establishment in new ecozones inhabited by immunologically naive human populations. Many abilities of Ae. aegypti and Ae. albopictus, as vectors of significant arbovirus pathogens, may affect the infection and transmission rates after a bloodmeal, and may influence the vector competence for either virus. We highlight that many collaborating risk factors, for example, the global transportation systems may result in sporadic and more local outbreaks caused by mosquito-borne viruses related to Ae. aegypti and/or Ae. albopictus. Those local outbreaks could in synergy grow and produce larger epidemics with pandemic characters. There is an urgent need for improved surveillance of vector populations, human cases, and reliable prediction models. In summary, we recommend new and innovative strategies for the prevention of these types of infections.
Zika, Chikungunya, and Other Emerging Vector-Borne Viral Diseases
Annual review of medicine, 2017
Arthropod-borne viruses (arboviruses) have a long history of emerging to infect humans, but during recent decades, they have been spreading more widely and affecting larger populations. This is due to several factors, including increased air travel and uncontrolled mosquito vector populations. Emergence can involve simple spillover from enzootic (wildlife) cycles, as in the case of West Nile virus accompanying geographic expansion into the Americas; secondary amplification in domesticated animals, as seen with Japanese encephalitis, Venezuelan equine encephalitis, and Rift Valley fever viruses; and urbanization, in which humans become the amplification hosts and peridomestic mosquitoes, mainly Aedes aegypti, mediate human-to-human transmission. Dengue, yellow fever, chikungunya, and Zika viruses have undergone such urban emergence. We focus mainly on the latter two, which are recent arrivals in the Western Hemisphere. We also discuss a few other viruses with the potential to emerge ...
Zika, chikungunya and dengue: the causes and threats of new and re-emerging arboviral diseases
BMJ global health, 2018
The recent emergence and re-emergence of viral infections transmitted by vectors-Zika, chikungunya, dengue, Japanese encephalitis, West Nile, yellow fever and others-is a cause for international concern. Using as examples Zika, chikungunya and dengue, we summarise current knowledge on characteristics of the viruses and their transmission, clinical features, laboratory diagnosis, burden, history, possible causes of the spread and the expectation for future epidemics. Arboviruses are transmitted by mosquitoes, are of difficult diagnosis, can have surprising clinical complications and cause severe burden. The current situation is complex, because there is no vaccine for Zika and chikungunya and no specific treatment for the three arboviruses. Vector control is the only comprehensive solution available now and this remains a challenge because up to now this has not been very effective. Until we develop new technologies of control mosquito populations, the globalised and urbanised world ...
Reviews in Medical Virology, 2019
In the last decade, virus hunting and discovery has gained pace. This achievement has been driven by three major factors: (a) advancements in sequencing technologies, (b) scaled-up routine arbovirus surveillance strategies, and (c) the "hunt" for emerging pathogens and novel viruses. Many novel viruses have been discovered from a myriad of hosts, vectors, and environmental samples. To help promote understanding of the global diversity and distribution of mosquito-associated viruses and facilitate future studies, we review mosquito-associated viruses discovered between years 2007 and 2017, across the world. In the analyzed period, novel mosquito-associated viruses belonging to 25 families and a general group of unclassified viruses were categorized. The top three discovered novel mosquito-associated viruses belonged to families Flaviviridae (n=32), Rhabdoviridae (n=16), and Peribunyaviridae (n=14). Also, 67 unclassified viruses were reported. Majority of these novel viruses were identified from Culex spp, Anopheles spp, Aedes spp, and Mansonia spp mosquitoes, respectively. Notably, the number of these discovered novels is not representative of intercontinental virus diversity but rather is influenced by the number of studies done in the study period. Some of these newly discovered mosquito-associated viruses have medical significance, either directly or indirectly. For instance, in the study period, 14 novel mosquito-borne viruses that infect mammalian cells in vitro were reported. These viruses pose a danger to the global health security on emerging viral diseases. On the other hand, some of the newly discovered insect specific viruses described herein have potential application as future biocontrol and vaccine agents against known pathogenic arboviruses. Overall, this review outlines the crucial role played by mosquitoes as viral vectors in the global virosphere.
Author response: The global distribution of the arbovirus vectors Aedes aegypti and Ae. albopictus
2015
Dengue and chikungunya are increasing global public health concerns due to their rapid geographical spread and increasing disease burden. Knowledge of the contemporary distribution of their shared vectors, Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus remains incomplete and is complicated by an ongoing range expansion fuelled by increased global trade and travel. Mapping the global distribution of these vectors and the geographical determinants of their ranges is essential for public health planning. Here we compile the largest contemporary database for both species and pair it with relevant environmental variables predicting their global distribution. We show Aedes distributions to be the widest ever recorded; now extensive in all continents, including North America and Europe. These maps will help define the spatial limits of current autochthonous transmission of dengue and chikungunya viruses. It is only with this kind of rigorous entomological baseline that we can hope to project future health impacts of these viruses.