Abstract
The flaviviruses are mosquito borne pathogens that continue to pose a considerable public health risk to animals and humans. The members of this group includes, Dengue virus (DENV), Yellow fever virus (YVF), Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV), West Nile virus (WEV) and Zika virus (ZKV). The DENV mosquito vector is endemic to tropical and subtropical climates, placing ∼40% of the world's population at direct risk of dengue infection. Currently, in Nigeria the status of DENV serotypes circulating among mosquito vectors is unknown. Our study was designed to identify and characterize the DENV serotypes circulating in Aedes mosquito populations collected in selected sites in Nigeria. The mosquitoes were collected and identified morphologically to species level using colored identification keys of Rueda. Generally, each species identified was tested in pools of 20 individuals of each Aedes species. RT-PCR and semi nested PCR were used to detect DENV serotypes in mosquitoes and characterized using Sanger sequencing methods. The results showed that DENV serotypes were detected in 58.54% (24/41) of the pools of Aedes mosquitoes from Mubi, Numan and Yola screened. All DENV1-4 serotypes were detected in Ae. aegypti. While DENV 1, 2 and 4 were detected in Ae. albopictus. And only DENV 2 was detected in Ae. galloisi with DENV4 serotype being reported for the first time in Nigeria. DENV2 (37.8%) was the most detected serotypes, while double and triple co-infections of serotypes were detected in 24.4% of the pools. Phylogenetic analysis revealed a strong evolutionary relatedness of DENV serotypes in our study with that of South and Southeast Asia, North America, and other African countries. This is the first reports on the natural DENV serotypes co-infection among Aedes species pools in Nigeria, which can create possible interaction with other flaviviruses causing animal and human diseases. In addition, our study postulates the possible linkage between DENV serotypes infection and human febrile flu-like disease burden being experienced by host communities in northeastern Nigeria.