This project addresses emerging problems with Dengue (DEN) in Mexico. DEN and dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) have emerged as major public health problems. Indeed, more than 2 billion people are at risk for DEN infection, millions are infected annually with an estimated 100,000 cases of life threatening DHF, and the situation continues to deteriorate. Unfortunately, the epidemiologic circumstances that led to the emergence of DHF as a major public health problem in Southeast Asia in the 1960s and 1970s are now occuring in tropical America and Mexico. The vector mosquito, Aedes aegypti, is hyperendemic, and another major vector, Aedes albopictus, is invading the country and may exacerbate the situation. Multiple serotypes and strains of DEN are now circulating simultaneously, and ominously, the incidence of DHF is increasing rapidly and DEN epidemics are occuring in cities in Northern Mexico. In this grant, we will, with colleagues from the Instituto Politecnica Nacional in Mexico City, from the Universidad Autonoma of Nuevo Leon in Monterrey, and the Universidad Autonoma of the Yucatan in Merida, investigate and elucidate the vector and viral genetic determinants of DEN transmission and virulence. This information will be used to develop and characterize biomarkers of vectors and viruses that pose substantial risk to human populations. Such information could be used to focus limited resources and and talents for control on situations with epidemic potential. Definition of vector and virus genotypes associated with DEN/DHF will permit eventual elucidation of mechanisms that determine virus transmission, disease, and epidemic potential and may lead to novel control and surveillance strategies for DEN in North America and elsewhere. These proposed studies will also provide invaluable information concerning the application of developed new technologies and approaches to other vector borne diseases of current and future public health importance.
| de Lourdes Munoz, Maria; Mercado-Curiel, Ricardo F; Diaz-Badillo, Alvaro et al. (2013) Gene flow pattern among Aedes aegypti populations in Mexico. J Am Mosq Control Assoc 29:1-18 |
| Lorono-Pino, M A; Farfan-Ale, J A; Blitvich, B J et al. (2009) Evaluation of an epitope-blocking enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for the diagnosis of West Nile virus infections in humans. Clin Vaccine Immunol 16:749-55 |
| Lozano-Fuentes, Saul; Fernandez-Salas, Ildefonso; de Lourdes Munoz, Maria et al. (2009) The neovolcanic axis is a barrier to gene flow among Aedes aegypti populations in Mexico that differ in vector competence for Dengue 2 virus. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 3:e468 |
| Mercado-Curiel, Ricardo F; Black 4th, William C; Munoz, Maria de L (2008) A dengue receptor as possible genetic marker of vector competence in Aedes aegypti. BMC Microbiol 8:118 |
| Black 4th, William C; Gorrochetegui-Escalante, Norma; Randle, Nadine P et al. (2008) The Yin and Yang of linkage disequilibrium: mapping of genes and nucleotides conferring insecticide resistance in insect disease vectors. Adv Exp Med Biol 627:71-83 |
| Salazar, Ma Isabel; Richardson, Jason H; Sanchez-Vargas, Irma et al. (2007) Dengue virus type 2: replication and tropisms in orally infected Aedes aegypti mosquitoes. BMC Microbiol 7:9 |
| Diaz, Francisco J; Black 4th, William C; Farfan-Ale, Jose A et al. (2006) Dengue virus circulation and evolution in Mexico: a phylogenetic perspective. Arch Med Res 37:760-73 |
| Black 4th, W C; Gorrochotegui-Escalante, N; Duteau, N M (2006) Heated oligonucleotide ligation assay (HOLA): an affordable single nucleotide polymorphism assay. J Med Entomol 43:238-47 |
| Mercado-Curiel, Ricardo F; Esquinca-Aviles, Hector Armando; Tovar, Rosalinda et al. (2006) The four serotypes of dengue recognize the same putative receptors in Aedes aegypti midgut and Ae. albopictus cells. BMC Microbiol 6:85 |
| Cisneros, A; Diaz-Badillo, A; Cruz-Martinez, G et al. (2006) Dengue 2 genotypes in the state of Oaxaca, Mexico. Arch Virol 151:113-25 |
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