ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: The emergence of insecticide resistance in Aedes mosquitoes could undermine efforts to control arboviruses. The present study aims to assess in some communes of Southern Benin, the susceptibility level of Aedes aegypti (Linnaeus, 1762) and Aedes albopictus (Skuse, 1894) to insecticides commonly used in public health, as well as mechanisms involved. METHODS: Females Ae. albopictus and Ae. aegypti collected in Ifangni, Porto-Novo, Avrankou, Adjarra and Kétou from June 2021 to October 2022, were exposed to: deltamethrin 0.05%, permethrin 0.75%, alpha-cypermethrin 0.05%, pirimiphos methyl 0.25% and bendiocarb 0.1%, following the standard WHO susceptibility tube test protocol. In some sites, pre-exposure to the synergist PBO was used to verify if pyrethroid resistance of populations of Aedes was mediated by oxidases. RESULTS: Full susceptibility to deltamethrin and permethrin was observed in all tested populations of Ae. albopictus. However, with alphacypermethrin, a suspected resistance was observed in Adjarra (94.67%), Ifangni (93%) and Porto-Novo (94%), and a resistance in Avrankou (83%). The PBO-alphacypermethrin tests performed, led to a full susceptibility (100%) in all four sites, which confirms the full involvement of oxidases in resistance of all tested populations of Ae. albopictus to alphacypermethrin. At the opposite, Aedes aegypti was either resistant or suspected of being resistant to all tested pyrethroids in all four sites, except in Ifangni where a full susceptibility to alphacypermethrin was observed. The full susceptibility of Ae. aegypti to bendiocarb and pirimiphos-methyl in all communes suggests that these two insecticides can be good candidates for an effective control of pyrethroid-resistant Aedes vector populations. Use of permethrin and deltamethrin could also be considered for controlling populations of Ae. albopictus. CONCLUSION: Results of the present study will help guide strategy to implement for an effective control of Aedes vector populations in Benin.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Much effort is being devoted for developing new indicators to evaluate the human exposure to Aedes mosquito bites and the risk of arbovirus transmission. Human antibody (Ab) responses to mosquito salivary components could represent a promising tool for evaluating the human-vector contact. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: To develop a specific biomarker of human exposure to Aedes aegypti bites, we measured IgG Ab response to Ae. aegypti Nterm-34 kDa salivary peptide in exposed children in 7 villages of Southern Benin (West Africa). Results showed that specific IgG response presented high inter-individual heterogeneity between villages. IgG response was associated with rainfall and IgG level increased from dry (low exposure) to rainy (high exposure) seasons. These findings indicate that IgG Ab to Nterm-34 kDa salivary peptide may represent a reliable biomarker to detect variation in human exposure to Ae. aegypti bites. CONCLUSION/SIGNIFICANCE: This preliminary study highlights the potential use of Ab response to this salivary peptide for evaluating human exposure to Ae. aegypti. This biomarker could represent a new promising tool for assessing the risk of arbovirus transmission and for evaluating the efficacy of vector control interventions.
