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GENETIC DIVERSITY OF BRAZILIAN AEDES AEGYPTI: PATTERNS FOLLOWING AN ERADICATION PROGRAM
Author
Affilliation
Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Instituto Oswaldo Cruz. Laboratorio de Epidemiologia e Sistemática Molecular. Rio de Janeiro. RJ, Brasil.
Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Instituto Oswaldo Cruz. Laboratório de Biologia Computacional e Sistemas. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil.
Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Instituto Oswaldo Cruz. Laboratório de Fisiologia e Controle de Artrópodes Vetores. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil.
Yale University. Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. New Haven, Connecticut, USA.
Yale University. Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. New Haven, Connecticut, USA.
Yale University. Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. New Haven, Connecticut, USA.
Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Instituto Oswaldo Cruz. Laboratório de Biologia Computacional e Sistemas. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil.
Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Instituto Oswaldo Cruz. Laboratório de Fisiologia e Controle de Artrópodes Vetores. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil.
Yale University. Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. New Haven, Connecticut, USA.
Yale University. Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. New Haven, Connecticut, USA.
Yale University. Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. New Haven, Connecticut, USA.
Abstract
Background: Aedes aegypti is the most important vector of dengue fever in Brazil, where severe epidemics have recently
taken place. Ae. aegypti in Brazil was the subject of an intense eradication program in the 1940s and 50s to control yellow
fever. Brazil was the largest country declared free of this mosquito by the Pan-American Health Organization in 1958. Soon
after relaxation of this program, Ae. aegypti reappeared in this country, and by the early 1980s dengue fever had been
reported. The aim of this study is to analyze the present-day genetic patterns of Ae. aegypti populations in Brazil.
Methodology/Principal Findings: We studied the genetic variation in samples of 11 widely spread populations of Ae.
aegypti in Brazil based on 12 well-established microsatellite loci. Our principal finding is that present-day Brazilian Ae.
aegypti populations form two distinct groups, one in the northwest and one in the southeast of the country. These two
groups have genetic affinities to northern South American countries and the Caribbean, respectively. This is consistent with
what has been reported for other genetic markers such as mitochondrial DNA and allele frequencies at the insecticide
resistance gene, kdr.
Conclusions/Significance: We conclude that the genetic patterns in present day populations of Ae. aegypti in Brazil are
more consistent with a complete eradication of the species in the recent past followed by re-colonization, rather than the
alternative possibility of expansion from residual pockets of refugia. At least two colonizations are likely to have taken place,
one from northern South American countries (e.g., Venezuela) that founded the northwestern group, and one from the
Caribbean that founded the southeastern group. The proposed source areas were never declared free of Ae. aegypti.
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