Mosquito-borne viruses have a widespread distribution across the globe and are known to pose serious threats to human and animal health. The maintenance and dissemination of these viruses in nature are driven through horizontal and vertical transmission. In the temperate climate of northern Sweden, there is a dearth of knowledge on whether mosquito-borne viruses that occur are transmitted transovarially. To gain a better understanding of mosquito-borne virus circulation and maintenance, mosquito larvae were sampled in northern Sweden during the first and second year after a large outbreak of Ockelbo disease in 2013 caused by Sindbis virus (SINV).

Hantaviruses cause human disease in endemic regions around the world. Outbreaks of hantaviral diseases have been associated with changes in rodent population density and adaptation to human settlements leading to their proliferation in close proximity to human dwellings. In a parallel study initiated to determine the prevalence of pathogens in Singapore's wild rodent population, 1206 rodents were trapped and screened. The findings established a hantavirus seroprevalence of 34%. This paper describes the molecular characterization of hantaviruses from Rattus norvegicus and Rattus tanezumi, the predominant rodents caught in urban Singapore.

Sindbis virus (SINV) is a mosquito-borne Alphavirus known to infect birds and cause intermittent outbreaks among humans in Fenno-Scandia. In Sweden, the endemic area has mainly been in central Sweden. Recently, SINV infections have emerged to northern Sweden, but the vectorial efficiency for SINV of mosquito species in this northern region has not yet been ascertained.

Rodent borne viruses of the Orthohantavirus genus cause hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome among people in Eurasia, and hantavirus cardiopulmonary syndrome in the Americas. At present, there are no specific treatments or efficient vaccines against these diseases. Improved understanding of viral transcription and replication may instigate targeted treatment of Orthohantavirus infections. For this purpose, we investigated the kinetics and levels of viral RNA transcription during an ongoing infection in-vitro.

Rodent-borne hantaviruses cause two severe acute diseases: hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) in Eurasia, and hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS; also called hantavirus cardiopulmonary syndrome [HCPS]) in the Americas. Puumala virus (PUUV) is the most common causative agent of HFRS in Europe. Current routine diagnostic methods are based on serological analyses and can yield inconclusive results. Hantavirus-infected patients are viremic during the early phase of disease; therefore, detection of viral RNA genomes can be a valuable complement to existing serological methods. However, the high genomic sequence diversity of PUUV has hampered the development of molecular diagnostics, and currently no real-time reverse transcription-quantitative (RT)-PCR assay is available for routine diagnosis of HFRS. Here, we present a novel PUUV RT-PCR assay. The assay was validated for routine diagnosis of HFRS on samples collected in Sweden during the winter season from 2013 to 2014. The assay allowed detection of PUUV RNA in 98.7% of confirmed clinical HFRS samples collected within 8 days after symptomatic onset. In summary, this study shows that real-time RT-PCR can be a reliable alternative to serological tests during the early phase of HFRS.

Affecting both livestock and humans, Rift Valley Fever is considered as one of the most important viral zoonoses in Africa. However, no licensed vaccines or effective treatments are yet available for human use. Naked DNA vaccines are an interesting approach since the virus is highly infectious and existing attenuated Rift Valley Fever virus vaccine strains display adverse effects in animal trials. In this study, gene-gun immunisations with cDNA encoding structural proteins of the Rift Valley Fever virus were evaluated in mice. The induced immune responses were analysed for the ability to protect mice against virus challenge.

Inkoo virus (INKV) is a less known mosquito-borne virus belonging to Bunyaviridae, genus Orthobunyavirus, California serogroup. Studies indicate that INKV infection is mainly asymptomatic, but can cause mild encephalitis in humans. In northern Europe, the sero-prevalence against INKV is high, 41% in Sweden and 51% in Finland. Previously, INKV RNA has been detected in adult Aedes (Ae.) communis, Ae. hexodontus and Ae. punctor mosquitoes and Ae. communis larvae, but there are still gaps of knowledge regarding mosquito vectors and genetic diversity. Therefore, we aimed to determine the occurrence of INKV in its mosquito vector and characterize the isolates.

Rodent borne hantaviruses are emerging viruses infecting humans through inhalation. They cause hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome and hemorrhagic cardiopulmonary syndrome. Recently, hantaviruses have been detected in other small mammals such as Soricomorpha (shrews, moles) and Chiroptera (bats), suggested as reservoirs for potential pandemic viruses and to play a role in the evolution of hantaviruses. It is important to study the global virome in different reservoirs, therefore our aim was to investigate whether shrews in Sweden carried any hantaviruses. Moreover, to accurately determine the host species, we developed a molecular method for identification of shrews.

Surveillance of mosquito vectors is critical for early detection, prevention and control of vector borne diseases. In this study we used advanced molecular tools, such as DNA barcoding in combination with novel sequencing technologies to discover new and already known viruses in genetically identified mosquito species. Mosquitoes were captured using BG sentinel traps in Western Kenya during May and July 2019, and homogenized individually before pooled into groups of ten mosquitoes. The pools and individual samples were then used for molecular analysis and to infect cell cultures. Of a total of fifty-four (54) 10-pools, thirteen (13) showed cytopathic effect (CPE) on VeroB4 cells, eighteen (18) showed CPE on C6/36 cells. Eight (8) 10-pools out of the 31 CPE positive pools showed CPE on both VeroB4 and C6/36 cells. When using reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), Sanger sequencing and Twist Comprehensive Viral Research Panel (CVRP) (Twist Biosciences), all pools were found negative by RT-PCR when using genus specific primers targeting alphaviruses, orthobunyaviruses and virus specific primers towards o'nyong-nyong virus, chikungunya virus and Sindbis virus (previously reported to circulate in the region). Interestingly, five pools were RT-PCR positive for flavivirus. Two of the RT-PCR positive pools showed CPE on both VeroB4 and C6/36 cells, two pools showed CPE on C6/36 cells alone and one pool on VeroB4 cells only. Fifty individual mosquito homogenates from the five RT-PCR positive 10-pools were analyzed further for flavivirus RNA. Of these, 19 out of the 50 individual mosquito homogenates indicated the presence of flavivirus RNA. Barcoding of the flavivirus positive mosquitoes revealed the mosquito species as Aedes aegypti (1), Mansonia uniformis (6), Anopheles spp (3), Culex pipiens (5), Culex spp (1), Coquilletidia metallica (2) and Culex quinquefasciatus (1). Of the 19 flavivirus positive individual mosquitoes, five (5) virus positive homogenates were sequenced. Genome sequences of two viruses were completed. One was identified as the single-stranded RNA Culex flavivirus and the other as the double-stranded RNA Hubei chryso-like virus 1. Both viruses were found in the same Anopheles spp. homogenate extracted from a sample that showed CPE on both VeroB4 and C6/36 cells. The detection of both viruses in a single mosquito homogenate indicated coinfection. Phylogenetic analyses suggested that the Culex flavivirus sequence detected was closely related to a Culex flavivirus isolated from Uganda in 2008. All four Hubei chryso-like virus 1 segments clusters closely to Hubei chryso-like virus 1 strains isolated in Australia, China and USA. Two novel strains of insect-specific viruses in Anopheles mosquitoes were detected and characterized.

Rift Valley Fever is an infectious viral disease and an emerging problem in many countries of Africa and on the Arabian Peninsula. The causative virus is predominantly transmitted by mosquitoes and high mortality and abortion rates characterize outbreaks in animals while symptoms ranging from mild to life-threatening encephalitis and hemorrhagic fever are noticed among infected humans. For a better prevention and treatment of the infection, an increased knowledge of the infectious process of the virus is required. The focus of this work was to identify protein-protein interactions between the non-structural protein (NSm), encoded by the M-segment of the virus, and host cell proteins. This study was initiated by screening approximately 26 million cDNA clones of a mouse embryonic cDNA library for interactions with the NSm protein using a yeast two-hybrid system. We have identified nine murine proteins that interact with NSm protein of Rift Valley Fever virus, and the putative protein-protein interactions were confirmed by growth selection procedures and β-gal activity measurements. Our results suggest that the cleavage and polyadenylation specificity factor subunit 2 (Cpsf2), the peptidyl-prolyl cis-trans isomerase (cyclophilin)-like 2 protein (Ppil2), and the synaptosome-associated protein of 25 kDa (SNAP-25) are the most promising targets for the NSm protein of the virus during an infection.

Mosquitoes of the Anopheles (An.) and Aedes (Ae.) genus are principal vectors of human diseases including malaria, dengue and yellow fever. Insecticide-based vector control is an established and important way of preventing transmission of such infections. Currently used insecticides can efficiently control mosquito populations, but there are growing concerns about emerging resistance, off-target toxicity and their ability to alter ecosystems. A potential target for the development of insecticides with reduced off-target toxicity is the cholinergic enzyme acetylcholinesterase (AChE). Herein, we report cloning, baculoviral expression and functional characterization of the wild-type AChE genes (ace-1) from An. gambiae and Ae. aegypti, including a naturally occurring insecticide-resistant (G119S) mutant of An. gambiae. Using enzymatic digestion and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry we found that the secreted proteins were post-translationally modified. The Michaelis-Menten constants and turnover numbers of the mosquito enzymes were lower than those of the orthologous AChEs from Mus musculus and Homo sapiens. We also found that the G119S substitution reduced the turnover rate of substrates and the potency of selected covalent inhibitors. Furthermore, non-covalent inhibitors were less sensitive to the G119S substitution and differentiate the mosquito enzymes from corresponding vertebrate enzymes. Our findings indicate that it may be possible to develop selective non-covalent inhibitors that effectively target both the wild-type and insecticide resistant mutants of mosquito AChE.