Indication and Identification of Dengue and Chikungunya Viruses in Aedes spp. Mosquitoes Captured in Central America

The purpose of study was to isolate arboviruses from mosquitoes of different species in the cell culture and to identify them by using molecular and immunochemical techniques. Materials and methods . Viruses were isolated in C6/36 cell cultures. The pathogens were identified by using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kits for detection of antigens of dengue, Chikungunya, West Nile and Sindbis viruses as well as the reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) with specific primers and Sanger sequencing. Results . A total of 102 mosquitoes belonging to three genera, Culex spp, Culiseta spp., Aedes spp., were studied. Mosquitoes of each species or genus were divided into pools, each containing 4–5 mosquitoes. The study of suspensions of only 2 mosquito pools obtained from Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus, starting from the 3rd passage, showed changes in the C6/36 cell monolayer. Starting from the 4th passage, an antigen of Chikungunya virus was detected using ELISA test in the suspension obtained from the Aedes albopictus pool. Dengue virus was detected in the 5th passage from the materials obtained from the Aedes aegypti pool. Thus, antigens of the Chikungunya and dengue viruses were detected only in 2 of 23 examined pools of mosquitoes of different genera. Materials of the 5th passage were analyzed by RT-PCR with specific primers for dengue and Chikungunya viruses. It was confirmed that the isolate obtained from Aedes albopictus mosquitoes contained RNA of the Chikungunya virus and corresponded to the East/Central/South African genotype, while the isolate obtained from Aedes aegypti mosquitoes contained RNA of the dengue type 2 virus. Conclusion . The obtained nucleotide sequences of the Chikungunya virus were deposited in the GenBank international database under accession numbers MN271691 and MN271692.