Evidence of the presence of West Nile Virus in mosquito pools in North Eastern Region of Venezuela

Velásquez G ¹*, Ulloa A², Montañez H³,  Guimarães AE⁴, Maldonado AJ⁵ and Bastardo JW⁶

¹Fundación Instituto Carabobeño para la Salud. Dirección de Salud Ambiental. INSALUD. Estado Carabobo. Venezuela

²Instituto Nacional de Salud Pública. Chiapas. México.

³Dirección de Salud Ambiental. Ministerio del Poder Popular para la Salud. MPPS.  Estado Aragua. Venezuela.

⁴Laboratório de Diptera, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Fiocruz, Brasil

⁵Instituto de Investigaciones en Biomedicina y Ciencias Aplicadas. Universidad de Oriente. Estado Sucre. Venezuela.

⁶Postgrado en Biología Aplicada. Universidad de Oriente. Estado Sucre. Venezuela.

*Corresponding Author E-mail: glenticks@hotmail.com; Phone: 00584144098211; Fax: 0058241842944

Accepted 21 January, 2013

Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine the presence of West Nile Virus (WNV) in mosquitoes in northeastern Venezuela. Research was conducted in the Laguna de los Patos, Cumana, Sucre State to demonstrate the presence of WNV RNA in mosquitoes caught in traps of Light (CDC + CO₂) by RT-PCR, during the period July 2007 to February 2008.  We found a positive mosquito pool for the species Coquillettidia (Rhynchotaenia) venezuelensis (Theobald, 1912). The minimum rate of infection of the caught was 0.16/ 1,000 individuals. Continued entomological surveillance is needed for establishing with conclusive criteria etiological responsibility of this and other species in these arboviruses.

Keywords: West Nile Virus, mosquitoes vector, RT-PCR, Venezuela.