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Section Symposium

Medical, Urban, and Veterinary Entomology

One Health Approaches to Vector-borne Disease Surveillance and Control

Islands in the stream: Impact of flood-induced landscape changes on mosquito community composition in the Brazilian Pantanal, with implications for arbovirus transmission

Tuesday, November 12, 2024
2:05 PM – 2:28 PM MST
Location: Phoenix Convention Center, 221 B, PCC
Oral Presentation
The Brazilian Pantanal is one of the richest areas of biodiversity in the world with over 600 vertebrate species sharing the same habitat with vector mosquitoes. This region undergoes annual flooding to create elevated arboreal patches of herbaceous vegetation called capões which remain dry year-round. Our study hypothesizes that capões facilitate increased vector-host interactions by serving as refugia where vertebrate hosts congregate during flooding, making them available for mosquitoes to feed upon. To test this, we sampled mosquitoes and observed vertebrate patterns at 3 study sites in the northern Pantanal. At each site, 3 pairs of sampling points were established, with sampling taking place on both a capão and on a flat area that floods. Mosquitoes were collected using BG-sentinel traps, CDC light traps, resting shelters, and aspiration of vegetation. Wildlife cameras ran for 3-months during the dry and flooded seasons. We collected 17,915 individual mosquitoes comprising 35 species. Non-engorged females were separated by species into 1,172 pools and screened for alphavirus and flavivirus RNA, while engorged females were analyzed via PCR-based bloodmeal analysis to determine vertebrate host use by mosquitoes. Additionally, over 20,000 images from wildlife cameras were examined to determine vector/host interactions at each sampling point assess how vector/host density. This study seeks to understand the response of vertebrate host and vector communities to annual flooding in the Pantanal and incorporates critical components of a one-health approach, including how environmental health and animal health can influence the transmission dynamics and spillover risk of vector-borne disease.