Aedes aegypti mosquitoes are primary indigenous vector of recent urban dengue fever virus (DENV) outbreaks in Jeddah and Makkah, Saudi Arabia a neighborhoods’ cities to Al-Madinah Al-Munawwarah. Virus surveillance in field caught Aedes mosquitoes using real time RT-PCR is a rapid, highly sensitive, efficient method to early predict the risk of dengue infection in a given area. To report the DENV activity reported in Al-Madinah for the first time. A total of 463 A. aegypti mosquitoes were collected (300 females) from Al-Madinah AlMunawwarah area through an entomological survey for a year from July 2008 to June 2009, where their prevalence and seasonal distribution were reported. Female mosquitoes were pooled (up to 10 mosquitoes/pool) according to date and site of collection, and were kept at -80°C till screened for the presence of DENV RNA. They were homogenized using metal beads; viral RNA was extracted from pooled samples homogenate, and then assayed using the DENV general-type real time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) kit (ZJ Bio-Tech, Shanghai, China) in a single step procedure. No DENV was detectable in any of the tested female pools. The obtained results ruled out the possibility of introduction of DENV by A. aegypti to the area of Al-Madinah Al-Munawwarah.
أيمن البدرى | Ayman A. El-Badry | 6000