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Pathogens
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Surveillance and Control Strategies to Fight Mosquito-Borne Diseases
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Surveillance and Control Strategies to Fight Mosquito-Borne Diseases

A special issue of Pathogens (ISSN 2076-0817). This special issue belongs to the section "Viral Pathogens".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 June 2025 | Viewed by 3964

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Riccardo Moretti

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Biotechnology and Agroindustry Division, ENEA Casaccia Research Center, Via Anguillarese, 301, Santa Maria di Galeria, 00123 Roma, Italy
Interests: vector control; Wolbachia transinfection; incompatible insect technique; insect biotechnology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Marta Giovanetti

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
1. Department of Sciences and Technologies for Sustainable Development and One Health, Universita Campus Bio-Medico di Roma, Rome, Italy
2. Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, Belo Horizonte, Brazil
Interests: mosquito-borne pathogens; genomic surveillance; public health; epidemic pandemic prepardness
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Arboviruses (arthropod-borne viruses) represent a continuous menace for human health, and global change is supporting their emergence in new areas and re-emergence even where they seemed under control. A major role in recent outbreaks of arboviral diseases is certainly played by mosquitoes, mainly due to their capacity to rapidly acquire resistance against several insecticides and to their remarkable dispersal ability and adaptability to perturbed and urbanized lands. The recent outbreaks of important diseases like dengue, Zika, chikungunya, yellow fever, West Nile fever, and Rift Valley fever are a clear demonstration of the urgency of renewed efforts to fight this burden. Additionally, key vector mosquitoes like Aedes albopictus and Ae. aegypti are spreading across temperate climate areas and are supporting several documented cases of autochthonous transmission of viral diseases that were once only restricted to the tropics. Facing this threat necessitates a reinforcement of the surveillance system and innovations in the sector of control strategies together with a coordinated action by all the actors involved in disease prevention and control, including governments, public and private organizations, and local communities.

In this regard, a Global Vector Control Response (GVCR) 2017–2030 and a Global Arbovirus Initiative (GLAI) have been launched by the WHO to outline the key priority actions to strengthen vector control worldwide through increased capacity, improved surveillance, better coordination, and integrated action across sectors and diseases, as well as taking into account criteria of sustainability.

Research has the role of contributing to this effort by providing the data that are necessary for evidence-informed decision making.

In this context, this Special Issue aims to collect a series of original research articles or reviews related to three specific topics:

  1. Mosquito surveillance (ecology, biodiversity, transmission, and resistance)
  2. Emerging mosquito-borne diseases
  3. Control strategies (with particular attention paid to highly specific and environmentally safe bio-control strategies such as sterile male-based suppression, larval control through insect growth regulators (IGRs) and Bti, bacteria to reduce the vector competence of key mosquito vectors, use of aquatic predators, etc.)

Dr. Riccardo Moretti
Dr. Marta Giovanetti
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Pathogens is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • arboviral diseases
  • mosquitoes
  • surveillance
  • control

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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24 pages, 3735 KiB  
Article
Integrated Control of Aedes albopictus in a Residential Area Through a Community-Based Approach: NESCOTIGER, a Large-Scale Field Trial in Valencia, Spain
by Marcos López-de-Felipe, Pedro María Alarcón-Elbal, Isaac García-Masiá, Anna Flor-Sánchez, Pilar Mateo-Herrero, Juan Pablo Serna-Mompeán, Juan Pablo Orán-Cáceres, Rubén Bueno-Marí and Ignacio Gil-Torró
Pathogens 2025, 14(4), 367; https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens14040367 - 8 Apr 2025
Viewed by 414
Abstract
Aedes albopictus has established populations in several European countries with a sustained spreading pattern through the continent. This invasive mosquito is a public health threat due to its vector competence for multiple arboviruses. Notably, the peri-domestic habits of this hematophagous insect greatly diminish [...] Read more.
Aedes albopictus has established populations in several European countries with a sustained spreading pattern through the continent. This invasive mosquito is a public health threat due to its vector competence for multiple arboviruses. Notably, the peri-domestic habits of this hematophagous insect greatly diminish the efficacy of regular control activities, as individuals may harbor in private areas. The oviposition behavior can be exploited for targeting adults and immature stages through different types of traps. An experimental integrated control program, which included a community-based mass trapping intervention in private areas, control of public street-catch basins, and an educational campaign, was developed in an infested residential area in Valencia (Eastern Spain). Focusing on mass trapping, participating residents deployed traps belonging to three modes of action in their gardens during the mosquito season. A total of 1028 families participated in the project, and 2884 traps were deployed. The study sector where adult lethal ovitraps were used showed the lowest adult collections, and residents living in this sector reported the highest satisfaction rates in a perception survey. The mass deployment through a community-based approach of the adulticidal oviposition trap type appears to be a promising tool for controlling Ae. albopictus in residential areas. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Surveillance and Control Strategies to Fight Mosquito-Borne Diseases)
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12 pages, 519 KiB  
Article
Pre-or co-SARS-CoV-2 Infections Significantly Increase Severe Dengue Virus Disease Criteria: Implications for Clinicians
by Moeen Hamid Bukhari, Esther Annan, Ubydul Haque, Pedro Arango, Andrew K. I. Falconar and Claudia M. Romero-Vivas
Pathogens 2024, 13(7), 573; https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens13070573 - 10 Jul 2024
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1652
Abstract
Few studies have investigated whether SARS-CoV-2 infections increase the incidence of dengue haemorrhagic fever/shock syndrome (DHF/DSS) and/or severe dengue (SD) in dengue virus (DENV)-infected patients. This study was performed on a site with high incidences of classical dengue, but relatively few DHF/DSS or [...] Read more.
Few studies have investigated whether SARS-CoV-2 infections increase the incidence of dengue haemorrhagic fever/shock syndrome (DHF/DSS) and/or severe dengue (SD) in dengue virus (DENV)-infected patients. This study was performed on a site with high incidences of classical dengue, but relatively few DHF/DSS or SD cases as defined by the WHO 1997 or 2009 criteria, respectively. Clinical, haematological/biochemical, and viral diagnostic data were collected from febrile patients before, during, and after the COVID-19 epidemic to assess whether (a) DENV-infected patients with prior SARS-CoV-2 infections or (b) DENV-SARS-CoV-2-co-infected patients had increased incidences of SD/DHF/DSS using logistic regression and machine learning models. Higher numbers of DHF/DSS/SD occurred during the COVID-19 epidemic, particularly in males and 18–40-year-olds. Significantly increased symptoms in the DENV-SARS-CoV-2-co-infected cases were (a) haemoconcentration (p < 0.0009) and hypotension (p < 0.0005) (DHF/DSS and SD criteria), (b) thrombocytopenia and mucosal bleeding (DHF/DSS-criteria), (c) abdominal pain, persistent vomiting, mucosal bleeding, and thrombocytopenia (SD warning signs) and (d) dyspnoea, but without fluid accumulation. DENV-infected patients with prior SARS-CoV-2 infections had significantly increased incidences of thrombocytopenia (DHF/DSS-criteria) and/or abdominal pain and persistent vomiting and also thrombocytopenia (SD warning signs), but without significant haemoconcentration or hypotension. DENV-SARS-CoV-2 co-infections significantly increased the incidence of DHF/DSS/SD, while DENV-infected patients with prior SARS-CoV-2 infections displayed significantly increased incidences of thrombocytopenia (DHF/DSS-criteria) and three important SD warning signs, which are therefore very important for health workers/clinicians in assessing patients’ DHF/DSS/SD risk factors and planning their optimal therapies. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Surveillance and Control Strategies to Fight Mosquito-Borne Diseases)
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Review

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65 pages, 2112 KiB  
Review
Exploiting Wolbachia as a Tool for Mosquito-Borne Disease Control: Pursuing Efficacy, Safety, and Sustainability
by Riccardo Moretti, Jue Tao Lim, Alvaro Gil Araujo Ferreira, Luigi Ponti, Marta Giovanetti, Chow Jo Yi, Pranav Tewari, Maria Cholvi, Jacob Crawford, Andrew Paul Gutierrez, Stephen L. Dobson and Perran A. Ross
Pathogens 2025, 14(3), 285; https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens14030285 - 14 Mar 2025
Viewed by 1049
Abstract
Despite the application of control measures, mosquito-borne diseases continue to pose a serious threat to human health. In this context, exploiting Wolbachia, a common symbiotic bacterium in insects, may offer effective solutions to suppress vectors or reduce their competence in transmitting several [...] Read more.
Despite the application of control measures, mosquito-borne diseases continue to pose a serious threat to human health. In this context, exploiting Wolbachia, a common symbiotic bacterium in insects, may offer effective solutions to suppress vectors or reduce their competence in transmitting several arboviruses. Many Wolbachia strains can induce conditional egg sterility, known as cytoplasmic incompatibility (CI), when infected males mate with females that do not harbor the same Wolbachia infection. Infected males can be mass-reared and then released to compete with wild males, reducing the likelihood of wild females encountering a fertile mate. Furthermore, certain Wolbachia strains can reduce the competence of mosquitoes to transmit several RNA viruses. Through CI, Wolbachia-infected individuals can spread within the population, leading to an increased frequency of mosquitoes with a reduced ability to transmit pathogens. Using artificial methods, Wolbachia can be horizontally transferred between species, allowing the establishment of various laboratory lines of mosquito vector species that, without any additional treatment, can produce sterilizing males or females with reduced vector competence, which can be used subsequently to replace wild populations. This manuscript reviews the current knowledge in this field, describing the different approaches and evaluating their efficacy, safety, and sustainability. Successes, challenges, and future perspectives are discussed in the context of the current spread of several arboviral diseases, the rise of insecticide resistance in mosquito populations, and the impact of climate change. In this context, we explore the necessity of coordinating efforts among all stakeholders to maximize disease control. We discuss how the involvement of diverse expertise—ranging from new biotechnologies to mechanistic modeling of eco-epidemiological interactions between hosts, vectors, Wolbachia, and pathogens—becomes increasingly crucial. This coordination is especially important in light of the added complexity introduced by Wolbachia and the ongoing challenges posed by global change. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Surveillance and Control Strategies to Fight Mosquito-Borne Diseases)
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