Screening of dengue virus in field-caught Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus (Diptera: Culicidae) by one-step SYBR green-based reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction assay during 2004-2007 in Southern Taiwan.

We carried out virological surveillance of dengue virus (DENV) in field-caught Aedes mosquitoes during 2004-2007 to estimate the monthly prevalence of infected females in dengue high-risk areas of Taiwan. A total of 92,892 Aedes aegypti (43,133 females and 49,759 males) and 79,315 Aedes albopictus (57,319 females and 21,996 males) adults were collected, grouped into 25,654 pools, and processed for virus detection using a one-step SYBR Green-based real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction assay. DENVs were periodically and sympatrically detected in Ae. aegypti females in accordance with major dengue outbreaks and the corresponding dengue serotypes. Only 0.2% of 7628 pools of Ae. aegypti females were positive for DENVs. This resulted in an overall estimated infection rate (maximum likelihood estimation) of 0.970 per 1000 mosquitoes (95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.53-1.65). The total monthly infection rates ranged from 0.50 to 2.23 per 1000 mosquitoes (95% CI = 0.03-10.71). When sampling areas were scaled down to the city level, monthly infection rates increased to 0.73-12.59 (95% CI = 0.06-59.19). Monthly infection rates over all sampling areas and at the city level increased significantly by month. All positive pools were collected in July (one pool), August (two pools), September (one pool), October (three pools), November (four pools), and December (one pool). All four virus serotypes were detected in mosquitoes, which were consistent with dengue serotypes infecting humans in 2004 (DENV-4), 2005 and 2006 (DENV-2 and DENV-3), and 2007 (DENV-1). Our results provide supporting evidence that, in general, DENV infection rates were low in local Aedes mosquito population during 2004-2007 and that transovarial transmission may not be occurring or is occurring at much lower rates than evidenced in some endemic countries.