Possible vectors associated to Oropouche virus transmission in Cuba, 2024

Occurrence
Latest version published by Institute of Tropical Medicine Pedro Kourí on Oct 30, 2025 Institute of Tropical Medicine Pedro Kourí
Publication date:
October 30, 2025
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CC0 1.0

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Description

From May to October 2024, Cuba experienced a significant outbreak of Oropouche virus (OROV), an Orthobunyavirus historically confined to the Amazon region, where it circulates between sylvatic vectors and vertebrate hosts. Prior to this event, no documented circulation of Orthobunyaviruses had been reported in Cuba, leaving the role of local vectors in transmission largely unknown. To investigate potential vectors, we conducted entomo-virological surveys in areas of active transmission across three Cuban provinces during the outbreak period. Adult insects were collected using both traps and manual aspirators, and tested for OROV by real-time RT-PCR. A total of 2,180 specimens, representing six dipteran species or families, were collected. Culex quinquefasciatus and Aedes aegypti were the only species captured across all three provinces. At active OROV transmission sites, Cx. quinquefasciatus was the most frequently sampled species (n = 1,785), followed by Ae. aegypti (n = 285) and members of the Ceratopogonidae family (n = 49). Eleven pools, comprising Cx. quinquefasciatus, Ae. aegypti, and members of the Ceratopogonidae family, tested positive for OROV. These findings suggest the possible involvement of multiple vector species in the Cuban outbreak. Further studies are needed to assess the vector competence of these species and to better understand their role in OROV transmission dynamics within the Caribbean context.

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205
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How to cite

Researchers should cite this work as follows:

Sanchez Gonzalez M, Companioni A, Gutierrez-Bugallo G, Camacho E, Serrano S, Rodriguez-Potrony H, Alfonso Y, Liberty B, Varens J, Martínez Y, Menendez Z (2025). Possible vectors associated to Oropouche virus transmission in Cuba, 2024. Version 1.5. Institute of Tropical Medicine Pedro Kourí. Occurrence dataset. https://cloud.gbif.org/lac/resource?r=ipk_orov&v=1.5

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The publisher and rights holder of this work is Institute of Tropical Medicine Pedro Kourí. To the extent possible under law, the publisher has waived all rights to these data and has dedicated them to the Public Domain (CC0 1.0). Users may copy, modify, distribute and use the work, including for commercial purposes, without restriction.

GBIF Registration

This resource has been registered with GBIF, and assigned the following GBIF UUID: 70f36828-f03f-486a-bb62-b4be3cb59d06.  Institute of Tropical Medicine Pedro Kourí publishes this resource, and is itself registered in GBIF as a data publisher endorsed by Participant Node Managers Committee.

Keywords

Sampling event; Aedes aegypti; Culex quinquefasciatus; Ceratopogonidae; Orthobunyavirus.

Contacts

Monica Sanchez Gonzalez
  • Originator
IPK
Havana
Havana
CU
Ariamys Companioni
  • Originator ●
  • Point Of Contact
IPK
Havana
Havana
CU
Gladys Gutierrez-Bugallo
  • Metadata Provider ●
  • Originator ●
  • Point Of Contact
IPK
Havana
Havana
CU
Eric Camacho
  • Originator
IPK
Havana
Havana
CU
Silvia Serrano
  • Originator
IPK
Havana
Havana
CU
Henry Rodriguez-Potrony
  • Originator
Centro Provincial de Higiene y Epidemiologia
Santiago de Cuba
Santiago de Cuba
CU
Yuneisy Alfonso
  • Originator
Centro Provincial de Higiene y Epidemiologia
Santiago de Cuba
Santiago de Cuba
CU
Barbara Liberty
  • Originator
Centro Provincial de Higiene, Epidemiologia y Microbiologia
Cienfuegos
Cienfuegos
CU
Javier Varens
  • Originator
Centro Provincial de Higiene, Epidemiologia y Microbiologia
Cienfuegos
Cienfuegos
CU
Yanet Martínez
  • Originator
IPK
Havana
Havana
CU
Zulema Menendez
  • Originator
IPK
Havana
Havana
CU

Geographic Coverage

Insect collection was conducted at 14 active OROV transmission areas across three Cuban provinces between May and October 2024: 1. Santiago de Cuba (Armando García, Distrito José Martí, Caney, 30 de Noviembre, 28 de Septiembre, Finlay, Distrito Josué País, Julian Grimau and Ernesto Che Guevara localities), 2. Cienfuegos ( III and VIII localities), and 3. Havana (Pulido Humaran, Grimau, and Puentes Grandes localities). Specimens were collected using adult traps (BG-Sentinel traps with BG-Lure cartridges and New Jersey light traps), which were deployed for 24 h starting at 8:00 a.m., and with insect aspirators (Prokopack) used once at each site, both outdoors and indoors, primarily in homes with confirmed or suspected OROV cases. Collection sites were categorized based on vegetation cover as follows: low (≤30%), moderate (30–70%), and high (≥70%) vegetation, following the criteria described by Vázquez et al. (2017).

Bounding Coordinates South West [20.013, -82.487], North East [23.104, -75.773]

Taxonomic Coverage

The dataset comprises adult insect specimens collected during entomo-virological surveys in Cuba between May and October 2024, in the context of an Oropouche virus (Orthobunyavirus) outbreak. The taxonomic focus is on Diptera (true flies), including both mosquito species and biting midges potentially involved in virus transmission.

Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Arthropoda
Class Insecta
Order Diptera
Family Culicidae, Ceratopogonidae

Temporal Coverage

Start Date / End Date 2024-05-23 / 2024-10-14

Project Data

No Description available

Title Possible vectors associated to Oropouche virus transmission in Cuba, 2024
Study Area Description Here, we present the results of the initial entomological investigations conducted in three Cuban provinces between May and October 2024. Insect collection was conducted at 14 active OROV transmission areas across three Cuban provinces between May and October 2024: 1. Santiago de Cuba (Armando García, Distrito José Martí, Caney, 30 de Noviembre, 28 de Septiembre, Finlay, Distrito Josué País, Julian Grimau and Ernesto Che Guevara localities), 2. Cienfuegos ( III and VIII localities), and 3. Havana (Pulido Humaran, Grimau, and Puentes Grandes localities).
Design Description Specimens were collected using adult traps (BG-Sentinel traps with BG-Lure cartridges and New Jersey light traps), which were deployed for 24 h starting at 8:00 a.m., and with insect aspirators (Prokopack) used once at each site, both outdoors and indoors, primarily in homes with confirmed or suspected OROV cases. Collection sites were categorized based on vegetation cover as follows: low (≤30%), moderate (30–70%), and high (≥70%) vegetation, following the criteria described by Vázquez et al. (2017). Collected specimens were stored at 4 °C during transportation and handling. Taxonomic identification was performed using established morphological keys (González, 2008) at the Entomology Reference Laboratory of the Pedro Kourí Institute of Tropical Medicine. Insects were sorted into pools of 5 to 25 individuals based on species, sex, collection date, and location. For female insects, only those that were visibly non-engorged were included in the pools. In addition, specimens that did not maintain the cold chain after collection were excluded from molecular analysis. Insect pools were homogenized in 500 µL of Dulbecco’s Modified Eagle Medium (DMEM) supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum. After centrifugation at 13,000 ×g for 15 minutes at 4 °C, 140 µL of the supernatant was used for viral RNA extraction using the QIAamp Viral RNA Mini Kit (QIAGEN, Germany), following the manufacturer’s instructions. Detection of Oropouche virus (OROV) RNA targeted a fragment of the S gene using a one-step real-time reverse transcription PCR (RT-qPCR) protocol, as described by Naveca et al. (2017). The minimum infection rate (MIR) is an indicator of virus activity within a vector population (Chatterjee et al., 2021). MIR was calculated for each species using the following formula: MIR=(positive pools)/(total individual tested)*1000

The personnel involved in the project:

Monica Sánchez González
  • Author

Sampling Methods

Adult insects were collected using a combination of trapping methods and manual aspiration in locations with active OROV circulation. Sampling aimed to cover sites in all three provinces and to document both the diversity and abundance of potential vector species.

Study Extent Entomo-virological surveys were conducted from May to October 2024 in areas of active Oropouche virus (OROV) transmission across three Cuban provinces. The study area included urban and peri-urban sites where confirmed human cases had been reported. Sampling focused on adult Diptera, particularly mosquito species and other potential vectors, to investigate their involvement in local OROV transmission.

Method step description:

  1. Identified areas of active OROV transmission within three Cuban provinces based on epidemiological data.
  2. Deployed traps and conducted manual aspiration to collect adult insects at selected sites.
  3. Sorted specimens to species or family level using morphological identification.
  4. Pooled specimens by species, location, and date of collection.
  5. Tested pools for OROV using real-time RT-PCR.
  6. Recorded taxonomic, spatial, and temporal data for each specimen or pool.

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