Mosquito-borne zoonosis in animals and humans

Research project Recently, exotic mosquito-borne viral zoonoses have taken up residence around the European continent. The need for better vigilance has been growing since the late 1990s, as the increased globalization of trade gives invading mosquitoes more opportunities to penetrate into Europe.

More research regarding potential vectors and comprehensive surveillance is needed. To meet the need of research in Sweden, we propose to: - identify mosquitoes by high-throughput genetic characterization. - identify mosquito-borne viruses. - model spatial and temporal conditions favourable for prevalence of disease causing mosquito vectors. - develop a model for studying competence of Nordic mosquitoes to spread emerging zoonotic diseases

Head of project

Magnus Evander Professor

+46 90 785 17 90

Project overview

Project period

2015-01-01 – 2017-12-31

Funding

Formas, 2015-2017: SEK 4,345,000

Research subject

Molecular medicine

Project members

Clas Ahlm Professor/chief physician

Email

+46 90 785 23 09

Göran Bucht Other position

Email
Participating departments and units
Department of Clinical Microbiology
Faculty of Medicine

Project description

Mosquitoes will be sampled for two field seasons at seven locations and prevalence data will be used to obtain a preliminary model of correlation between habitats and species..
High-throughput genetic typing of mosquitoes will be performed by Metabarcoding. Identification of mosquito viruses will occur through genetic detection by RT-PCR technology, whole genome sequencing and virus culture.
The competence of Nordic mosquitoes to harbor and transfer selected viruses will be determined and used as a model for mosquito competence.

Combine surveillance data with environmental factors, including temperature and humidity, to better track the main invasive mosquito species. Models based on these combined data can reveal, for example, how environmental conditions can affect mosquitoes’ ability to transmit pathogens, and so provide information on the likelihood of outbreaks in various regions.