Publications by authors named "S M Dabo"
African populations of the mosquito Aedes aegypti are usually considered less susceptible to infection by human-pathogenic flaviviruses than globally invasive populations found outside Africa. Although this contrast has been well documented for Zika virus (ZIKV), it is unclear to what extent it is true for dengue virus (DENV), the most prevalent flavivirus of humans. Addressing this question is complicated by substantial genetic diversity among DENV strains, most notably in the form of four genetic types (DENV1 to DENV4), that can lead to genetically specific interactions with mosquito populations.
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- African mosquito populations are generally less susceptible to dengue virus (DENV) than invasive populations from outside Africa, but this isn't a clear-cut difference as seen with Zika virus (ZIKV).
- A study surveyed DENV susceptibility in various African mosquito populations alongside one from Guadeloupe, revealing significant variations in their ability to acquire and replicate different DENV strains.
- The findings suggest that DENV susceptibility in African populations is complex and varies depending on the specific mosquito and DENV strain interactions, challenging the notion of a straightforward susceptibility difference between African and non-African populations.
Article Synopsis
- The Zika virus (ZIKV) emerged explosively in the Pacific and Americas since 2007, causing severe health issues, including congenital microcephaly in newborns when pregnant women are infected.
- Although ZIKV was first identified in Uganda, Africa hasn’t seen major outbreaks, likely due to different variations of the Aedes aegypti mosquito that act as its primary vector, with African populations being less effective in spreading the virus.
- In Cape Verde, however, studies revealed that local Aedes aegypti mosquitos have a mix of human-specialist traits and increased ZIKV susceptibility, indicating that similar populations in urbanizing areas of West Africa could lead to potential future outbreaks.
Article Synopsis
- Living in a more interconnected world increases the likelihood of epidemics and pandemics, exacerbated by the severe effects of climate change.
- Investment in prevention and preparedness strategies is crucial to address the anticipated rise in humanitarian crises and improve health service delivery for issues like neglected tropical diseases.
- The Ascend West and Central Africa programme highlights the importance of innovation, partnerships across sectors, and the potential for positive change in health care.
In animals with distinct life stages such as holometabolous insects, adult phenotypic variation is often shaped by the environment of immature stages, including their interactions with microbes colonizing larval habitats. Such carry-over effects were previously observed for several adult traits of the mosquito Aedes aegypti after larval exposure to different bacteria, but the mechanistic underpinnings are unknown. Here, we investigated the molecular changes triggered by gnotobiotic larval exposure to different bacteria in Ae.
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