ARBOVIRUS CIRCULATION AND DIVERSITY OF MOSQUITO VECTORS ACROSS HABITATS IN THE GAMBIA

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Project Summary/Abstract This application seeks to examine arbovirus and mosquito vector prevalence and identify their possible influence in The Gambia. An existing infrastructure in the country for malaria investigation will jumpstart this project. Like malaria, mosquito-borne arboviruses can cause febrile illness; with significant morbidity and even mortality, in multiple regions of the world. Practically nothing is known about the arboviruses that circulate in The Gambia; except for three instances: an outbreak of Yellow Fever over forty years ago, localized antibody evidence of Zika virus, and two one-off cases of Rift Valley fever. Arboviral activity of this unique country is poorly understood. Importantly, there are cases of acute febrile illness in The Gambia that are not attributable to malaria, and we hypothesize that arboviruses are circulating in the region that could be responsible for a proportion of such cases. In addition, there is a paucity of data on local mosquito populations, other than the Anopheline vectors of malaria, and potential vectors of arboviruses. Incrimination of mosquito species responsible for natural arbovirus transmission is pivotal to understanding pathogen dynamics and designing precise vector control strategies. To enhance response to emerging public health threats in The Gambia, the proposed research aims to address gaps in the knowledge of mosquito-borne arboviruses and their vectors by: (a) sampling mosquitoes in The Gambia (utilizing a framework already in place for malaria monitoring, with extended sampling locations) to contrast vector species communities in different landscapes during both the dry and rainy seasons, and to assess arboviral evidence to determine mosquito infection rates across regions; and (b) evaluating vector species diversity and abundance, as well as predictors of the risk of detected mosquito species and arboviruses, considering their prevalence in association with seasonality, macroclimate, and landscape development. Vector and arbovirus presence can, in future, be compared to potential geographic prevalence of human cases. When fever is not caused by malaria, local epidemiology, including a baseline knowledge of what arboviruses and their vectors are circulating in a region, can guide medical decisions. The proposed research is both significant and novel because it addresses the lack of understanding of arbovirus existence in a previously unstudied country, one that is experiencing unexplained cases of acute febrile illness. Although neighboring Senegal has been noted for an arboviral presence, The Gambia has a separate geography, public health system, and political setting, and is unexplored in this respect. Non-malarial febrile illness occurs in The Gambia, and we propose initial steps for investigating arboviruses as potential etiological agents, allowing for improved understanding of infectious disease agents. We aim to generate preliminary data for studies of arboviruses threatening health in The Gambia and, ultimately, facilitating targeted prevention of arboviral pathogens (as well as malaria) and a more streamlined approach to addressing vector-borne disease burden.