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Collaborative project: Mosquitoes and mosquito-borne zoonotic diseases in Germany. Subproject 6 (CuliFo)

Project


Project code: 2819105315
Contract period: 15.12.2015 - 31.07.2019
Budget: 388,639 Euro
Purpose of research: Experimental development
Keywords: health-related consumer protection, digital world, zoonosis, virology, other animal species, prevention

The project is meant to produce data to assess the future risk of emergence of mosquito-borne diseases in Germany. In addition to vector competence studies with various mosquito species and pathogens, blood samples of animals and humans (blood donors) are tested regarding the current circulation of pathogens. A DNA reference collection of all mosquito species occurring in Germany will be established, and population genetic and field ecological studies on new invasive species such as Aedes albopictus and Ochlerotatus japonicus are carried out. Maps of the present distribution of the mosquito species are prepared and future distribution and dispersal scenarios are modelled. The vector competence studies are carried out primarily during the summer months, while the screening of the infected mosquitoes (qRT-PCR, virus titration) is done during winter. In vitro assays (infection per membrane, cotton wool, microinjection) precede in vivo assays with study animals which are examined immunologically and pathologically. Blood samples from domestic and wild animals as well as from humans are continuously examined for mosquito-borne disease agents using molecular diagnostics and serology (multiplex PCRs, differentiating qRT-PCRs, NGS, ELISA, IFA, VNT). In the framework of the construction of a DNA reference collection for mosquitoes, interspecifically polymorphic DNA regions (CO1, ITS1, ITS2, ND4, ND5, possibly further) are characterised (PCR, sequencing). For the population genetic analyses, microsatellites and ND4 gene sequences are compared between sampling sites of Oc. japonicus. Existing material to be analysed is continuously supplemented. During the summer months, larvae of invasive (Ae. albopictus, Oc. japonicus) and native competing mosquito species are put together for joint development. The numbers of emerging adults per species are evaluated. Using mosquito sampling data, GIS-based distribution maps are prepared.

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