Seasonal changes in the diversity, host preferences and infectivity of mosquitoes in two arbovirus-endemic regions of Costa Rica.
Luis M Romero-Vega, Marta Piche-Ovares, Claudio Soto-Garita, Daniel Felipe Barantes Murillo, Luis Guillermo Chaverri, Alejandro Alfaro-Alarc��n, Eugenia Corrales-Aguilar, Adriana Troyo
Author Information
Luis M Romero-Vega: Universidad de Costa Rica, San Jos��, Costa Rica.
Marta Piche-Ovares: Universidad de Costa Rica, San Jos��, Costa Rica.
Claudio Soto-Garita: Universidad de Costa Rica, San Jos��, Costa Rica.
Daniel Felipe Barantes Murillo: Universidad Nacional, Heredia, Costa Rica.
Luis Guillermo Chaverri: Universidad Estatal a Distancia, San Jos��, Costa Rica.
Alejandro Alfaro-Alarc��n: Universidad Nacional, Heredia, Costa Rica.
Eugenia Corrales-Aguilar: Universidad de Costa Rica, San Jos��, Costa Rica.
Adriana Troyo: Universidad de Costa Rica, San Jos��, Costa Rica. ADRIANA.TROYO@ucr.ac.cr.
BACKGROUND: Mosquitoes are vectors of various arboviruses belonging to the genera Alphavirus and Flavivirus, and Costa Rica is endemic to several of them. The aim of this study was to describe and analyze the community structure of such vectors in Costa Rica. METHODS: Sampling was performed in two different coastal locations of Costa Rica with evidence of arboviral activity during rainy and dry seasons. Encephalitis vector surveillance traps, CDC female gravid traps and ovitraps were used. Detection of several arboviruses by Pan-Alpha and Pan-Flavi PCR was attempted. Blood meals were also identified. The Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) was estimated for each area during the rainy and dry seasons. The Chao2 values for abundance and Shannon index for species diversity were also estimated. RESULTS: A total of 1802 adult mosquitoes belonging to 55 species were captured, among which Culex quinquefasciatus was the most caught species. The differences in NDVI were higher between seasons and between regions, yielding lower Chao-S��rensen similarity index values. Venezuelan equine Encephalitis virus, West Nile virus and Madariaga virus were not detected at all, and dengue virus and Zika virus were detected in two separate Cx. quinquefasciatus specimens. The primary blood-meal sources were chickens (60%) and humans (27.5%). Both sampled areas were found to have different seasonal dynamics and population turnover, as reflected in the Chao2 species richness estimation values and Shannon diversity index. CONCLUSION: Seasonal patterns in mosquito community dynamics in coastal areas of Costa Rica have strong differences despite a geographical proximity. The NDVI influences mosquito diversity at the regional scale more than at the local scale. However, year-long continuous sampling is required to better understand local dynamics.
