There are at least five common mosquito-borne viruses (MBVs) recorded in Egypt, including dengue virus (DENV), Rift Valley fever virus (RVFV), West Nile virus (WNV), Chikungunya virus, and Sindbis virus. Unexpected outbreaks caused by MBVs reflect the deficiencies of the MBV surveillance system in Egypt. This systematic review characterized the epidemiology of MBV prevalence in Egypt. Human, animal, and vector prevalence studies on MBVs in Egypt were retrieved from Web of Science, PubMed, and Bing Scholar, and 33 eligible studies were included for further analyses. The monophyletic characterization of the RVFV and WNV strains found in Egypt, which spans about half a century, suggests that both RVFV and WNV are widely transmitted in this nation. Moreover, the seropositive rates of DENV and WNV in hosts were on the rise in recent years, and spillover events of DENV and WNV to other countries from Egypt have been recorded. The common drawback for surveillance of MBVs in Egypt is the lack of seroprevalence studies on MBVs, especially in this century. It is necessary to evaluate endemic transmission risk, establish an early warning system for MBVs, and develop a sound joint system for medical care and public health for managing MBVs in Egypt.

Aedes aegypti mosquito is the principal dengue vector in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA); however, no study has addressed its ecology and population structure yet. Therefore, we report on Ae. aegypti phylo- and population genetics using three DNA markers: COI, ND4, and rDNA-ITS2. Sampling the immature stages of Ae. aegypti revealed that water storage tanks (34.3% of habitats) were the most productive and contained 33% of immatures stages. Other important habitats included containers for wastewater drainage (including air-conditioning and water cooler trays) and containers associated with ornamentation. Shallow water leakage spots (2.7% of habitats, 8% of immatures) can be considered rare-but-epidemiologically-important containers. Neighbor-joining (NJ) phylogenetic analysis of Ae. aegypti identified 8, 14, and 9 haplotypes of COI, ND4, and ITS2, respectively, and revealed high levels of genetic variation in Ae. aegypti populations of KSA. Global distribution of haplotypes also indicated multiple gene introductions into these populations, with high levels of intra-population genetic variation and continuous gene exchange. The neutrality values indicated a deficiency of alleles and suggested that the KSA Ae. aegypti loci tested did not follow a neutral model of molecular evolution. Fst values and AMOVA indicated that most of the genetic variation in the KSA Ae. aegypti populations is due to intra- rather than inter-population differences. This is the first comprehensive report on the phylo- and population genetics of Ae. aegypti from the Arabian Peninsula. This information expands our understanding of the ecology and population dynamics of this important arboviral vector for informed control efforts.

The aim of this review was to delve into the extent of mosquito virome coverage (proportion of viral reads) via meta-viromic sequencing and uncover potential factors of heterogeneity that could impact this coverage. Data sources were PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, Scopus, Science-Direct, Google Scholar, and the China National Knowledge Infrastructure. Pooled coverage was estimated using random-effects modeling, and subgroup analyses further reveal potential heterogeneous factors. Within the three mosquito genera studied, Culex exhibited the highest pooled viral coverage of mosquito viromes at 7.09% (95% CI: 3.44–11.91%), followed by Anopheles at 5.28% (95% CI: 0.45–14.93%), and Aedes at 2.11% (95% CI: 0.58–7.66%). Subgroup analyses showed that multiple processing methods significantly affected the viral coverage of mosquito viromes, especially pre-treatment of mosquito samples with saline buffer/medium and antibiotics prior to DNase/RNase treatment and removal of the host genome prior to RNA library construction. In conclusion, the results of this study demonstrate that the viral coverage of mosquito viromes varies between mosquito genera and that pre-treatment of mosquito samples with saline buffer/medium and antibiotics before DNase/RNase treatment and removing host genomes prior to RNA library construction are critical for the detection of RNA viruses in mosquito vectors using meta-viromic sequencing.

A novel rotator trap was evaluated to determine the diel activity patterns and physiological state of adult female mosquitoes in St. Augustine, FL, U.S.A. Culex nigripalpus were most active from 19:00‐21:00, followed by 1:00‐3:00, based on collections from the novel rotator trap. Furthermore, analysis of the physiological state of female mosquitoes collected by the novel rotator trap suggested that non‐parous (nulliparous) host‐seeking mosquitoes were more frequently active in the 21:00‐23:00 and 09:00‐19:00 time frames. Parous host‐seeking mosquitoes were more frequently collected from 19:00‐21:00 and 1:00‐3:00. A low abundance of gravid females was collected by the rotator trap, so analysis of their activity periods was inconclusive. These results indicate that the novel rotated trap could be used to detect the diel activity patterns of adult mosquitoes in mosquito control programs and more testing should be conducted in the future.

Mosquito-borne virus surveillance is pivotal for investigating mosquito viromes, facilitating understanding of viral evolutionary histories and genetic diversity. Natural viral communities in mosquitoes include not only insect-specific viruses (ISVs) but also viruses infecting symbiotic microorganisms. In this study, a total of 654 mosquito samples—encompassing species from the Aedes and Culex genera—were collected from Egypt and subjected to metagenomic sequencing analysis. Over 130 virus species were identified, grouped into 35 families or equivalent taxonomic ranks. Detected ISVs included Culex flavivirus (CxFV), Kustavi Toti-like virus, Hanko Toti virus 5, Culex phasma-like virus (CPLV), Culex Iflavi-like virus 1, Culex Iflavi-like virus 4, Guadeloupe Culex rhabdovirus (GCRV), and Sarawak virus, confirming concurrent ISV circulation in Egyptian mosquitoes. Phylogenetic analyses of these ISVs revealed their closest evolutionary affinities to viral genome sequences originating from the Middle East, Europe, Oceania, and Asia. Specifically, Egyptian CxFV strains exhibited a closer genetic relationship with the tropical lineage within the Latin American/Caribbean/Africa genotype. Furthermore, our study uncovered 10 putative novel viruses, which are distributed across seven viral families: Amagaviridae, Chrysoviridae, Mitoviridae, Totiviridae, Virgaviridae, Narnaviridae, and Orthomyxoviridae. Collectively, our findings emphasize the necessity for more in-depth investigations into arthropod viromes—encompassing both mosquitoes and ticks—in Egypt, as well as in neighboring African and Middle Eastern countries. Such research is critical for enhancing our understanding of viral diversity and evolutionary biology, elucidating their roles in mosquito–pathogen–host interactions, and exploring their potential as biocontrol agents against vector-borne diseases of public health importance. IMPORTANCE: Mosquito-borne viruses are estimated to cause over 100 million human infections annually, making surveillance of these pathogens increasingly crucial amid growing international travel and trade. Egypt, situated in northeastern Africa, serves as a geopolitical and geographical hub connecting Asia, Europe, and Africa—a unique location that complicates the surveillance of mosquito-borne viruses. Arboviruses persist in nature through cyclical transmission between arthropod vectors (e.g., mosquitoes, ticks, and midges) and susceptible vertebrate hosts. Despite this, systematic investigations into mosquito viromes remain relatively scarce in Egypt. The present study aimed to explore the genetic diversity and evolutionary relationships of mosquito-associated viruses in Egypt using metaviromic sequencing. Our findings significantly expand the current knowledge of both known and previously uncharacterized mosquito-associated viruses in the region, while also providing complete genome sequences of several viruses that may infect arthropods or vertebrates, and potentially interfere with the replication of pathogenic arboviruses.