Distribution, Abundance and Diversity of Mosquito Species and Molecular Detection of Their Associated Arboviruses in Maiduguri, Nigeria
Ali Mohammed1,2*, Abdullahi Abubakar Biu1, Marycelin Mandu Baba3,4, Albert Wulari Mbaya1 and Babagana Kachalla Kayeri1
1Department of Veterinary Parasitology and Entomology, University of Maiduguri, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Maiduguri Nigeria
2Diagnostic Laboratory, Veterinary Teaching Hospital University of Maiduguri, Maiduguri, Nigeria
3Medical Laboratory Science, Faculty of Allied Sciences University of Maiduguri, Maiduguri, Nigeria
4WHO Polio Laboratory, University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital, Nigeria
*Corresponding Author: Dr. Mohammed Ali (MVSc), Department of Veterinary Parasitology and Entomology, University of Maiduguri, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Nigeria.
Published: August 14, 2025
Abstract
Mosquitoes are notorious arthropods, causing nuisance and serving as vectors to numerous diseases of Medical and Veterinary importance. Entomological surveys for mosquito and their infection status for arbovirus is critical for planning and deployment of proper mosquito control initiatives. Therefore, this study was carried out to investigate the species diversity, abundance and distribution of mosquitoes in Maiduguri, Borno State. Mosquitoes were collected using the Center for Disease Control (CDC) light trap, Developmental stage trap (DT), and Human Landing Collection (HLC) from July to October 2018 (peak rainy season), November 2018 to February 2019 (cold dry-harmmatan season) and February/March to May, 2019 (hot dry season). Morphological identification of the mosquitoes was done using standard keys. Mosquitoes were pooled according to genera and homogenates were propagated on Cell Line Culture. RT-PCR was used for the detection of Flavivirus group of arboviruses (Yellow fever virus, Dengue virus, West Nile virus and Zika virus) while Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) was also used for the amplification of virus genetic materials.
In total, 5335 adult mosquitoes were collected from all the 12 districts of Maiduguri belonging to three genera namely Culex, Anopheles, and Aedes. Of the 3 genera, Culex species 4154(77.9%) was the most abundant, compared with Anopheles species 947 (17.8%) while Aedes species 234 (4.4%) was the least. In mosquito trapping, the CDC traps had the highest catch of 2525 (47.3%) followed by DT with a total catch of 2185 (41%) while HLC had the lowest catch of 625 (11.7%) (p<0.05). The wet/rainy season had the highest distribution with 2499 (46.8%) for all the species of mosquitoes collected, followed by the cold-dry harmattan with 1500 (28.1%), while the hot-dry season had the lowest distribution with 1336 (25.1%). Across all seasons, mosquitoes consistently persist irrespective of species. The month of September had the highest distribution 688 (12.9%) of all mosquito species collected and May had the lowest distribution with 258 (4.8%). RT-PCR assay were negative for all Flavivirus. Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) using illumine Miseq revealed the presence of two important arboviruses namely Culex Flavivirus (CxFV) and Hubei partiti-like virus 22. The amplification of CxFV is the first report from mosquito species in nature from Nigeria. In conclusion, 3 genera of mosquito species were collected and identified in Maiduguri of which Culex was the most abundant and distributed.
Keywords: Mosquitoes; Arboviruses; Culex flavivirus; Nigeria
.