Sylvatic Mosquito Viromes in the Cerrado Biome of Minas Gerais, Brazil: Discovery of New Viruses and Implications for Arbovirus Transmission.

Studies on animal virome have mainly concentrated on chordates and medically significant invertebrates, often overlooking sylvatic mosquitoes, constituting a major part of mosquito species diversity. Despite their potential role in arbovirus transmission, the viromes of sylvatic mosquitoes remain largely unexplored. These mosquitoes may also harbor insect-specific viruses (ISVs), affecting arboviral transmission dynamics.

High Frequencies of Mutation and Chikungunya Infection in Population from Minas Gerais, Brazil.

The Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) presents global health challenges, with Brazil experiencing outbreaks since its introduction in 2014. In 2023, following a CHIKV outbreak in Minas Gerais (MG), social media was used to optimize an entomological survey aimed at identifying vectors and viral lineages and assessing insecticide resistance. Following Instagram posts, residents with suspected CHIKV infection were able to schedule mosquito aspirations.

Arbovirus surveillance in mosquitoes: Historical methods, emerging technologies, and challenges ahead.

Arboviruses cause millions of infections each year; however, only limited options are available for treatment and pharmacological prevention. Mosquitoes are among the most important vectors for the transmission of several pathogens to humans. Despite advances, the sampling, viral detection, and control methods for these insects remain ineffective.

Yellow Fever Virus Maintained by Mosquitoes during the Dry Season in Cerrado, a Semiarid Region of Brazil, in 2021.

In recent decades, waves of yellow fever virus (YFV) from the Amazon Rainforest have spread and caused outbreaks in other regions of Brazil, including the Cerrado, a savannah-like biome through which YFV usually moves before arriving at the Atlantic Forest. To identify the vectors involved in the maintenance of the virus in semiarid environments, an entomological survey was conducted after confirmation of yellow fever (YF) epizootics at the peak of the dry season in the Cerrado areas of the state of Minas Gerais. In total, 917 mosquitoes from 13 taxa were collected and tested for the presence of YFV.

Ecological, Genetic, and Phylogenetic Aspects of YFV 2017-2019 Spread in Rio de Janeiro State.

In Brazil, a yellow fever (YF) outbreak was reported in areas considered YF-free for decades. The low vaccination coverage and the increasing forest fragmentation, with the wide distribution of vector mosquitoes, have been related to yellow fever virus (YFV) transmission beyond endemic areas since 2016. Aiming to elucidate the molecular and phylogenetic aspects of YFV spread on a local scale, we generated 43 new YFV genomes sampled from humans, non-human primates (NHP), and primarily, mosquitoes from highly heterogenic areas in 15 localities from Rio de Janeiro (RJ) state during the YFV 2016-2019 outbreak in southeast Brazil.

Back to Where It Was First Described: Vectors of Sylvatic Yellow Fever Transmission in the 2017 Outbreak in Espírito Santo, Brazil.

Evidence of sylvatic yellow fever was first reported in Atlantic Forest areas in Espírito Santo, Brazil, during a yellow fever virus (YFV) outbreak in 1931. An entomological survey was conducted in six forest sites during and after an outbreak reported ~80 years after the last case in the area. Among 10,658 mosquitoes of 78 species, and / were considered the main vectors as they had a relatively high abundance, co-occurred in essentially all areas, and showed high YFV infection rates.

Serological Evidence of Infection in Neotropical Primates in Brazil.

The genus (OPXV) of the family comprises several viruses that are capable of infecting a wide range of hosts. One of the most widespread OPXVs is the Vaccinia virus (VACV), which circulates in zoonotic cycles in South America, especially in Brazil, infecting domestic and wild animals and humans and causing economic losses as well as impacting public health. Despite this, little is known about the presence and/or exposure of neotropical primates to orthopoxviruses in the country.

Biological Characterization of Yellow Fever Viruses Isolated From Non-human Primates in Brazil With Distinct Genomic Landscapes.

Since the beginning of the XXI Century, the yellow fever virus (YFV) has been cyclically spreading from the Amazon basin to Brazil's South and Southeast regions, culminating in an unprecedented outbreak that started in 2016. In this work, we studied four YFV isolated from non-human primates obtained during outbreaks in the states of Rio Grande do Sul in 2008 (PR4408), Goiás (GO05), and Espírito Santo (ES-504) in 2017, and Rio de Janeiro (RJ 155) in 2019. These isolates have genomic differences mainly distributed in non-structural proteins.

Ecological and environmental factors affecting transmission of sylvatic yellow fever in the 2017-2019 outbreak in the Atlantic Forest, Brazil.

Background: Yellow fever virus (YFV) is an arbovirus that, despite the existence of a safe and effective vaccine, continues to cause outbreaks of varying dimensions in the Americas and Africa. Between 2017 and 2019, Brazil registered un unprecedented sylvatic YFV outbreak whose severity was the result of its spread into zones of the Atlantic Forest with no signals of viral circulation for nearly 80 years.

Methods: To investigate the influence of climatic, environmental, and ecological factors governing the dispersion and force of infection of YFV in a naïve area such as the landscape mosaic of Rio de Janeiro (RJ), we combined the analyses of a large set of data including entomological sampling performed before and during the 2017-2019 outbreak, with the geolocation of human and nonhuman primates (NHP) and mosquito infections.

No Evidence of SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Neotropical Primates Sampled During COVID-19 Pandemic in Minas Gerais and Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.

In 2019, a new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) was detected in China. Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) was capable to infect domestic and captive mammals like cats, tigers and minks. Due to genetic similarities, concern about the infection of non-human primates (NHPs) and the establishment of a sylvatic cycle has grown in the Americas.

Real-Time Genomic Surveillance during the 2021 Re-Emergence of the Yellow Fever Virus in Rio Grande do Sul State, Brazil.

The 2021 re-emergence of yellow fever in non-human primates in the state of Rio Grande do Sul (RS), southernmost Brazil, resulted in the death of many howler monkeys (genus ) and led the state to declare a Public Health Emergency of State Importance, despite no human cases reported. In this study, near-complete genomes of yellow fever virus (YFV) recovered from the outbreak were sequenced and examined aiming at a better understanding of the phylogenetic relationships and the spatio-temporal dynamics of the virus distribution. Our results suggest that the most likely sequence of events involved the reintroduction of YFV from the state of São Paulo to RS through the states of Paraná and Santa Catarina, by the end of 2020.

The genome of the zoonotic malaria parasite Plasmodium simium reveals adaptations to host switching.

Background: Plasmodium simium, a malaria parasite of non-human primates (NHP), was recently shown to cause zoonotic infections in humans in Brazil. We sequenced the P. simium genome to investigate its evolutionary history and to identify any genetic adaptions that may underlie the ability of this parasite to switch between host species.

Low Vector Competence for Zika Virus from Viremic Rhesus Macaques.

Despite worldwide efforts to understand the transmission dynamics of Zika virus (ZIKV), scanty evaluation has been made on the vector competence of fed directly on viremic human and non-human primates (NHPs). We blood-fed from two districts in Rio de Janeiro on six ZIKV infected pregnant rhesus macaques at several time points, half of which were treated with Sofosbuvir (SOF). Mosquitoes were analyzed for vector competence after 3, 7 and 14 days of incubation.

Survey on Non-Human Primates and Mosquitoes Does not Provide Evidences of Spillover/Spillback between the Urban and Sylvatic Cycles of Yellow Fever and Zika Viruses Following Severe Outbreaks in Southeast Brazil.

In the last decade, Flaviviruses such as yellow fever (YFV) and Zika (ZIKV) have expanded their transmission areas. These viruses originated in Africa, where they exhibit both sylvatic and interhuman transmission cycles. In Brazil, the risk of YFV urbanization has grown, with the sylvatic transmission approaching the most densely populated metropolis, while concern about ZIKV spillback to a sylvatic cycle has risen.

Howler monkeys are the reservoir of malarial parasites causing zoonotic infections in the Atlantic forest of Rio de Janeiro.

Background: Although malaria cases have substantially decreased in Southeast Brazil, a significant increase in the number of Plasmodium vivax-like autochthonous human cases has been reported in remote areas of the Atlantic Forest in the past few decades in Rio de Janeiro (RJ) state, including an outbreak during 2015-2016. The singular clinical and epidemiological aspects in several human cases, and collectively with molecular and genetic data, revealed that they were due to the non-human primate (NHP) parasite Plasmodium simium; however, the understanding of the autochthonous malarial epidemiology in Southeast Brazil can only be acquired by assessing the circulation of NHP Plasmodium in the foci and determining its hosts.

Methodology: A large sampling effort was carried out in the Atlantic forest of RJ and its bordering states (Minas Gerais, São Paulo, Espírito Santo) for collecting and examining free-living NHPs.

Author Correction: An assay for the identification of Plasmodium simium infection for diagnosis of zoonotic malaria in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest.

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

Capture of Alouatta guariba clamitans for the surveillance of sylvatic yellow fever and zoonotic malaria: Which is the best strategy in the tropical Atlantic Forest?

Howler monkey capture is an arduous and expensive task requiring trained and specialized professionals. We compared strategies and methods to most efficiently capture Alouatta guariba clamitans in remnants of the Atlantic Forest in Rio de Janeiro and its bordering states of Minas Gerais and São Paulo. We tested whether or not the success of expeditions in the forest with anesthetic darts, nets, and baited traps differed with and without the support of an information network, a contact chain built with key institutions and inhabitants to continuously monitor howler monkey presence.

Distinct YFV Lineages Co-circulated in the Central-Western and Southeastern Brazilian Regions From 2015 to 2018.

The current outbreak of yellow fever virus (YFV) that is afflicting Brazil since the end of 2016 probably originated from a re-introduction of YFV from endemic areas into the non-endemic Southeastern Brazil. However, the lack of genomic sequences from endemic regions hinders the tracking of YFV's dissemination routes. We assessed the origin and spread of the ongoing YFV Brazilian outbreak analyzing a new set of YFV strains infecting humans, non-human primates (NHPs) and mosquitoes sampled across five Brazilian states from endemic and non-endemic regions between 2015 and 2018.

Correction to: Frozen blood clots can be used for the diagnosis of distinct Plasmodium species in man and non-human primates from the Brazilian Atlantic Forest.

Following publication of the original article [1], it was flagged that one of the authors (Anielle de Pina Costa) is missing an affiliation in the article.

Haemagogus leucocelaenus and Haemagogus janthinomys are the primary vectors in the major yellow fever outbreak in Brazil, 2016-2018.

The yellow fever virus (YFV) caused a severe outbreak in Brazil in 2016-2018 that rapidly spread across the Atlantic Forest in its most populated region without viral circulation for almost 80 years. A comprehensive entomological survey combining analysis of distribution, abundance and YFV natural infection in mosquitoes captured before and during the outbreak was conducted in 44 municipalities of five Brazilian states. In total, 17,662 mosquitoes of 89 species were collected.