Viruses (Sep 2022)

Arboviruses in Free-Ranging Birds and Hematophagous Arthropods (Diptera, Nematocera) from Forest Remnants and Urbanized Areas of an Environmental Protection Area in the Amazon Biome

  • Bruna Alves Ramos,
  • Liliane Leal Das Chagas,
  • Franko de Arruda e Silva,
  • Eder Barros dos Santos,
  • Jannifer Oliveira Chiang,
  • Joaquim Pinto Nunes Neto,
  • Durval Bertram Rodrigues Vieira,
  • José Wilson Rosa Junior,
  • Eliana Vieira Pinto da Silva,
  • Maria Nazaré Oliveira Freitas,
  • Maissa Maia Santos,
  • Jamilla Augusta de Sousa Pantoja,
  • Ercília de Jesus Gonçalves,
  • Landeson Junior Leopoldino Barros,
  • Sandro Patroca Silva,
  • Carine Fortes Aragão,
  • Ana Cecilia Ribeiro Cruz,
  • Lívia Medeiros Neves Casseb,
  • Lizandra Caroline dos Santos Souto,
  • Joana D’Arc Pereira Mascarenhas,
  • Erilene Cristina Da Silva Furtado,
  • Raimundo Nelson Souza Da Silva,
  • Alexandre do Rosário Casseb,
  • Lívia Carício Martins

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/v14102101
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 14, no. 10
p. 2101

Abstract

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The rapid and disorderly urbanization in the Amazon has resulted in the insertion of forest fragments into cities, causing the circulation of arboviruses, which can involve hematophagous arthropods and free-ranging birds in the transmission cycles in urban environments. This study aimed to evaluate the circulation of arboviruses in free-ranging birds and hematophagous arthropods captured in an Environmental Protection Area in the Belem metropolitan area, Brazil. Birds were captured using mist nets, and hematophagous arthropods were collected using a human protected attraction technique and light traps. The birds’ sera were subjected to a hemagglutination inhibition test to detect antibodies against 29 arbovirus antigens. Arthropod macerates were inoculated into C6/36 and VERO cell cultures to attempt viral isolation and were tested using indirect immunofluorescence, subsequent genetic sequencing and submitted for phylogenetic analysis. Four bird sera were positive for arbovirus, and one batch of Psorophora ferox was positive for Flavivirus on viral isolation and indirect immunofluorescence. In addition, the Ilheus virus was detected in the sequencing and phylogenetic analysis. The presence of antibodies in sera from free-ranging birds and the isolation of Ilheus virus in Psorophora ferox indicate the circulation of arboviruses in forest remnants in the urban center of Belem.

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