First isolation of the Sindbis virus in mosquitoes from southwestern Spain reveals a new recent introduction from Africa

Sindbis virus (SINV), is an Alphavirus of the family Togaviridae. This zoonotic arbovirus is transmitted by mosquitoes, primarily from the Culex genus, with bird species acting as amplifying vertebrate hosts. Occasionally it can also affect humans that are accidental hosts. SINV genotype I (SINV-I)...

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Main Authors: Rafael Gutiérrez-López, María José Ruiz-López, Juan Ledesma, Sergio Magallanes, Cristina Nieto, Santiago Ruiz, Carolina Sanchez-Peña, Ulises Ameyugo, Juan Camacho, Sarai Varona, Isabel Cuesta, Isabel Jado-García, María Paz Sanchez-Seco, Jordi Figuerola, Ana Vázquez
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-06-01
Series:One Health
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352771424002738
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author Rafael Gutiérrez-López
María José Ruiz-López
Juan Ledesma
Sergio Magallanes
Cristina Nieto
Santiago Ruiz
Carolina Sanchez-Peña
Ulises Ameyugo
Juan Camacho
Sarai Varona
Isabel Cuesta
Isabel Jado-García
María Paz Sanchez-Seco
Jordi Figuerola
Ana Vázquez
author_facet Rafael Gutiérrez-López
María José Ruiz-López
Juan Ledesma
Sergio Magallanes
Cristina Nieto
Santiago Ruiz
Carolina Sanchez-Peña
Ulises Ameyugo
Juan Camacho
Sarai Varona
Isabel Cuesta
Isabel Jado-García
María Paz Sanchez-Seco
Jordi Figuerola
Ana Vázquez
author_sort Rafael Gutiérrez-López
collection DOAJ
description Sindbis virus (SINV), is an Alphavirus of the family Togaviridae. This zoonotic arbovirus is transmitted by mosquitoes, primarily from the Culex genus, with bird species acting as amplifying vertebrate hosts. Occasionally it can also affect humans that are accidental hosts. SINV genotype I (SINV-I) has been isolated in mosquitoes and birds in South Africa and Northern Europe, producing fever outbreaks. In the last decades, there were several detections of SINV in Europe. In 2022, during the West Nile virus (WNV) mosquito surveillance program in Andalucía (Spain) implemented by the regional health administration, we detected the presence of both SINV and WNV in a Culex perexiguus pool, representing the first detection of SINV in Spain. After this finding, we screened 1149 mosquito pools to determine the status of SINV circulation in western Andalucía. We identified for the first time the presence of SINV in five different mosquito species. Culex perexiguus presented the highest infection rate by SINV. In addition, SINV was geographically widespread and distributed in four out of the five Andalucía's provinces studied, with Cadiz presenting the highest infection rate. All SINV genomes from Southwestern Spain characterised in this study belonged to SINV-I, previously detected in Europe and Africa. These isolated SINV-I strains presented low molecular variation among them and in the phylogenomic analyses they formed a monophyletic group that clustered with strains from Algeria and Kenya. These results suggest that, around 2017, a single new SINV introduction into the European continent occurred, probably from Northern (Algeria) or Central Africa.
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spelling doaj-art-e9bb155ee4da4242a1516ad67ba722cf2025-08-20T02:08:02ZengElsevierOne Health2352-77142025-06-012010094710.1016/j.onehlt.2024.100947First isolation of the Sindbis virus in mosquitoes from southwestern Spain reveals a new recent introduction from AfricaRafael Gutiérrez-López0María José Ruiz-López1Juan Ledesma2Sergio Magallanes3Cristina Nieto4Santiago Ruiz5Carolina Sanchez-Peña6Ulises Ameyugo7Juan Camacho8Sarai Varona9Isabel Cuesta10Isabel Jado-García11María Paz Sanchez-Seco12Jordi Figuerola13Ana Vázquez14Centro Nacional de Microbiología, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Majadahonda, 28220 Madrid, Spain; CIBER de Enfermedades Infecciosas (CIBERINFEC), 28029 Madrid, Spain; Corresponding author at: Centro Nacional de Microbiología, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Majadahonda, 28220 Madrid, Spain.Departamento de Biología de la Conservación y Cambio Global, Estación Biológica de Doñana (EBD), CSIC, Sevilla, Spain; CIBER de Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), 28029 Madrid, SpainCentro Nacional de Microbiología, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Majadahonda, 28220 Madrid, Spain; Unidad Bioinformática, Unidades Centrales Científico-Técnicas, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, 28220 Madrid, SpainDepartamento de Biología de la Conservación y Cambio Global, Estación Biológica de Doñana (EBD), CSIC, Sevilla, Spain; CIBER de Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), 28029 Madrid, SpainCentro Nacional de Microbiología, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Majadahonda, 28220 Madrid, SpainServicio de Control de Mosquitos de la Diputación Provincial de Huelva, Ctra. Hospital Infanta Elena s/n, 21007 Huelva, SpainJunta de Andalucía, Consejería de Salud y Familias, Dirección General de Salud Pública y Ordenación Farmaceútica, Subdirección de Protección de la Salud, 41020 Sevilla, SpainJunta de Andalucía, Consejería de Salud y Familias, Dirección General de Salud Pública y Ordenación Farmaceútica, Subdirección de Protección de la Salud, 41020 Sevilla, SpainCentro Nacional de Microbiología, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Majadahonda, 28220 Madrid, SpainUnidad Bioinformática, Unidades Centrales Científico-Técnicas, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, 28220 Madrid, Spain; Escuela Internacional de Doctorado de la UNED (EIDUNED), Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia (UNED), 2832 Madrid, SpainUnidad Bioinformática, Unidades Centrales Científico-Técnicas, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, 28220 Madrid, SpainCentro Nacional de Microbiología, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Majadahonda, 28220 Madrid, SpainCentro Nacional de Microbiología, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Majadahonda, 28220 Madrid, Spain; CIBER de Enfermedades Infecciosas (CIBERINFEC), 28029 Madrid, SpainDepartamento de Biología de la Conservación y Cambio Global, Estación Biológica de Doñana (EBD), CSIC, Sevilla, Spain; CIBER de Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), 28029 Madrid, SpainCentro Nacional de Microbiología, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Majadahonda, 28220 Madrid, Spain; CIBER de Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), 28029 Madrid, SpainSindbis virus (SINV), is an Alphavirus of the family Togaviridae. This zoonotic arbovirus is transmitted by mosquitoes, primarily from the Culex genus, with bird species acting as amplifying vertebrate hosts. Occasionally it can also affect humans that are accidental hosts. SINV genotype I (SINV-I) has been isolated in mosquitoes and birds in South Africa and Northern Europe, producing fever outbreaks. In the last decades, there were several detections of SINV in Europe. In 2022, during the West Nile virus (WNV) mosquito surveillance program in Andalucía (Spain) implemented by the regional health administration, we detected the presence of both SINV and WNV in a Culex perexiguus pool, representing the first detection of SINV in Spain. After this finding, we screened 1149 mosquito pools to determine the status of SINV circulation in western Andalucía. We identified for the first time the presence of SINV in five different mosquito species. Culex perexiguus presented the highest infection rate by SINV. In addition, SINV was geographically widespread and distributed in four out of the five Andalucía's provinces studied, with Cadiz presenting the highest infection rate. All SINV genomes from Southwestern Spain characterised in this study belonged to SINV-I, previously detected in Europe and Africa. These isolated SINV-I strains presented low molecular variation among them and in the phylogenomic analyses they formed a monophyletic group that clustered with strains from Algeria and Kenya. These results suggest that, around 2017, a single new SINV introduction into the European continent occurred, probably from Northern (Algeria) or Central Africa.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352771424002738AlphavirusArbovirusCulexVector-borne diseasesNext generation sequencingOne health
spellingShingle Rafael Gutiérrez-López
María José Ruiz-López
Juan Ledesma
Sergio Magallanes
Cristina Nieto
Santiago Ruiz
Carolina Sanchez-Peña
Ulises Ameyugo
Juan Camacho
Sarai Varona
Isabel Cuesta
Isabel Jado-García
María Paz Sanchez-Seco
Jordi Figuerola
Ana Vázquez
First isolation of the Sindbis virus in mosquitoes from southwestern Spain reveals a new recent introduction from Africa
One Health
Alphavirus
Arbovirus
Culex
Vector-borne diseases
Next generation sequencing
One health
title First isolation of the Sindbis virus in mosquitoes from southwestern Spain reveals a new recent introduction from Africa
title_full First isolation of the Sindbis virus in mosquitoes from southwestern Spain reveals a new recent introduction from Africa
title_fullStr First isolation of the Sindbis virus in mosquitoes from southwestern Spain reveals a new recent introduction from Africa
title_full_unstemmed First isolation of the Sindbis virus in mosquitoes from southwestern Spain reveals a new recent introduction from Africa
title_short First isolation of the Sindbis virus in mosquitoes from southwestern Spain reveals a new recent introduction from Africa
title_sort first isolation of the sindbis virus in mosquitoes from southwestern spain reveals a new recent introduction from africa
topic Alphavirus
Arbovirus
Culex
Vector-borne diseases
Next generation sequencing
One health
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352771424002738
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