The Monsoon-Associated Equine South African Pointy Mosquito ‘Aedes Caballus’; the First Comprehensive Record From Southeastern Iran With a Description of Ecological, Morphological, and Molecular Aspects Publisher Pubmed



Nejati J¹ ; Azarihamidian S² ; Oshaghi MA³ ; Vatandoost H³ ; White VL⁴ ; Moosakazemi SH³ ; Buenomari R^{5, 6} ; Hanafibojd AA³ ; Endersbyharshman NM⁴ ; Axford JK⁴ ; Karimian F⁷ ; Koosha M³ ; Choubdar N³ ; Hoffmann AA⁴ Show Affiliations
Source: PLoS ONE Published:2024

Abstract

The equine South African pointy vector mosquito, Aedes caballus, poses a significant threat to human health due to its capacity for transmitting arboviruses. Despite favorable climate for its existence in southeast Iran, previous records of this species in the area have indicated very low abundance. This comprehensive field and laboratory study aimed to assess its current adult population status in this region, utilizing a combination of ecological, morphological and molecular techniques. Four distinct types of traps were strategically placed in three fixed and two variable mosquito sampling sites in the southern strip of Sistan and Baluchistan Province. Subsequently, DNA was extracted from trapped mosquitoes and subjected to PCR amplification using the molecular markers COI, ITS2, and ANT. In total, 1734 adult Ae. caballus specimens were collected from rural areas, with the majority being captured by CO2-baited bednet traps. A notable increase in the abundance of this species was observed following rainfall in February. The genetic analysis revealed multiple haplotypes based on COI and ITS2 sequences, with COI gene divergence at 0.89%, and ITS2 sequence divergence at 1.6%. This suggests that previous challenges in morphological identification may have led to misidentifications, with many adults previously classified as Ae. vexans potentially being Ae. caballus. The findings of this study hold significant implications for public health authorities, providing valuable insights for integrated and targeted vector control and disease management efforts. © 2024 Nejati et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.