Vector competence of Aedes aegypti for the transmission of Dirofilaria immitis (Nematoda: Onchocercidae) in the municipality of Goiana, Zona da Mata Norte de Pernambuco
Mosquitoes; vectors; dirofilariasis; dogs
Aedes aegypti is a culicid species of high relevance for being a vector of several pathogens of only health importance. In addition to spreading arboviruses such as Dengue, Zika, Chikungunya and Urban Yellow Fever, these insects can also transmit the cosmopolitan filarid Dirofilaria immitis, which causes heartworm disease and affects domestic and wild canids and felids, as well as humans. In Brazil, D. immitis is widespread in coastal areas. In Pernambuco, it was detected along the coast and in 2020 in dogs domiciled in the municipality of Goiana, Zona da Mata Norte. The aim of the study was to assess the vectorial competence of Ae. aegypti from Goiana for the transmission of D. immitis. To this end, Ae. aegypti larvae were collected in the municipality and reared in the laboratory. Subsequently, female Ae. aegypti mosquitoes from the GOIANA population were experimentally exposed to D. immitis by artificially feeding on the blood of dogs naturally infected with the filarid. The mosquitoes were exposed to a concentration of 1250 microfilariae/mL of blood. The results showed that at the end of the experiments with D. immitis, the Ae. aegypti population GOIANA had a mortality rate of 12.1% and a vector efficiency rate of 100%. Thus, it was observed that it has the potential to transmit D. immitis in the municipality, as it allowed the nematode larvae to develop into the infective form in the Malpighian tubules and migrate to the mosquitoes proboscis.