TY - JOUR AU - Watentena, Amos AU - Okoye, Ikem Chris AU - Onah, Ikechukwu Eugene AU - Ogbonnaya, Onwude Cosmas AU - Ogudu, Emmanuel PY - 2020/10/05 Y2 - 2024/03/29 TI - A Simple PCR Assay for Discrimination of Dengue Vectors from Nsukka LGA, Nigeria JF - International Annals of Science JA - Int. Ann. Sci. VL - 10 IS - 1 SE - Research Article DO - 10.21467/ias.10.1.67-77 UR - https://journals.aijr.org/index.php/ias/article/view/2647 SP - 67-77 AB - <p>Mosquitoes of <em>Aedes </em>species are vectors of several arboviral diseases which continue to be a major public health problem in Nigeria. This study among other things, morphologically identified <em>Aedes</em> mosquitoes collected from Nsukka LGA and used an allele specific PCR amplification for discrimination of dengue vectors. Larval sampling, BG-sentinel traps and modified human landing catches were used for mosquito sampling in two selected autonomous communities of Nsukka LGA (Nsukka and Obimo). A total of 124 <em>Aedes</em> mosquitoes consisting of five (5) different species were collected from April to June, 2019 in a cross-sectional study that covered 126 households, under 76 distinct geographical coordinates. Larvae was mainly collected from plastic containers 73% (n=224), metallic containers 14% (n=43), earthen pots 9% (n=29) and used car tyres 3% (n=9), reared to adult stage 69.35% (n=86), and all mosquitoes were identified using standard morphological keys. Five (5) <em>Aedes</em> mosquito species were captured; <em>Aedes aegypti</em> 83(66.94%), <em>Aedes albopictus</em> 33(26.61%), <em>Aedes simpsoni</em> (4.48%), <em>Aedes luteocephalus</em> (≤1%) and <em>Aedes vittatus</em> (≤1%). Nsukka autonomous community had higher species diversity than Obimo. Allele specific amplification confirmed dengue vectors, <em>Aedes aegypti</em> and <em>Aedes albopictus</em> species on a 2% agarose gel. Since the most recent re-emergence of arboviral diseases is closely associated with <em>Aedes </em>species, findings of this study therefore, give further evidence about the presence of potential arboviral vectors in Nigeria and describe the role of a simple PCR in discriminating some. Further entomological studies should integrate PCR assays in mosquito vector surveillance.</p> ER -