{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,22]],"date-time":"2025-10-22T23:12:59Z","timestamp":1761174779028,"version":"build-2065373602"},"reference-count":36,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"12","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,6,10]],"date-time":"2021-06-10T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1623283200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["IJERPH"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Makkah city, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), contains many of the world\u2019s mosquito vectors of parasitic and arboviral disease and is the site of the Hajj mass gathering. As such there is a risk of exportation and globalization of vector-borne viruses, including the re-emerging Zika virus (ZIKV). There was international concern regarding the introduction of ZIKV to KSA and potential international spread of the virus following the 2016 Hajj which took place few days after the Rio summer Olympics at the height of the ZIKV pandemic. We aimed to detect flaviviruses, including ZIKV, circulating among mosquito hosts in the city of Makkah during and post the 2016 Hajj pilgrimage. Mosquitos (adults and larvae) were sampled from 15 sites in Makkah city during and post the 2016 Hajj and identified to species by morphological keys. Mosquitos were pooled according to date of collection, location, and species. A Pan-Flaviviruses RT-PCR assay that enables identification of 51 flaviviruses species and three tentative species was used to detect flavivirus RNA directly from mosquito homogenates. Between the 10 September and 6 October 2016, 9412 female mosquitos were collected. Of these, 81.3% were Aedes aegypti, 18.6% were Culex species, and 0.1% were Anopheles species. Of the total 493 mosquito pools generated, 242 (49%) were positive by the Pan-Flaviviruses primer set. Sequence analysis revealed that none of the mosquitos carried a pathogenic flavivirus, including ZIKV, but were infected with a novel insect-specific flavivirus. We found no pathogenic flaviviruses circulating in Makkah city during and post the 2016 Hajj and no evidence of introduction of ZIKV through the pilgrimage. Enhanced vector-borne diseases surveillance, prevention, and control are crucial in KSA especially during international mass gatherings such as the annual Hajj to prevent outbreaks and the spread of viruses with epidemic and pandemic potentials.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijerph18126275","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,6,10]],"date-time":"2021-06-10T13:31:39Z","timestamp":1623331899000},"page":"6275","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["Lack of Zika Virus and Other Recognized Flaviviruses among the Mosquito Vectors during and Post the Hajj Mass Gathering"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"18","author":[{"given":"Saber","family":"Yezli","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"The Global Centre for Mass Gatherings Medicine, Ministry of Health, Riyadh 12341, Saudi Arabia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1111-1104","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Muhammad","family":"Yasir","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Special Infectious Agents Unit, King Fahd Medical Research Center, King Abdulaziz University, P.O. Box 128442, Jeddah 21362, Saudi Arabia"},{"name":"Medical Laboratory Technology Department, Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, King Abdulaziz University, P.O. Box 128442, Jeddah 21362, Saudi Arabia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8762-5403","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Yara","family":"Yassin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"The Global Centre for Mass Gatherings Medicine, Ministry of Health, Riyadh 12341, Saudi Arabia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Afnan","family":"Almazrua","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"The Global Centre for Mass Gatherings Medicine, Ministry of Health, Riyadh 12341, Saudi Arabia"},{"name":"Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology Department, King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre, Riyadh 11564, Saudi Arabia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3442-551X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Tagreed","family":"Al-Subhi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Special Infectious Agents Unit, King Fahd Medical Research Center, King Abdulaziz University, P.O. Box 128442, Jeddah 21362, Saudi Arabia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Norah","family":"Othman","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Special Infectious Agents Unit, King Fahd Medical Research Center, King Abdulaziz University, P.O. Box 128442, Jeddah 21362, Saudi Arabia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Abdiasiis","family":"Omar","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"General Directorate of Vector-Borne & Zoonotic Diseases, Ministry of Health, Riyadh 12613, Saudi Arabia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6587-3935","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Abdelmohsin","family":"Abdoon","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"General Directorate of Vector-Borne & Zoonotic Diseases, Ministry of Health, Riyadh 12613, Saudi Arabia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Yousif","family":"Elamin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"General Directorate of Vector-Borne & Zoonotic Diseases, Ministry of Health, Riyadh 12613, Saudi Arabia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Abuzaid","family":"Abuzaid","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"General Directorate of Vector-Borne & Zoonotic Diseases, Ministry of Health, Riyadh 12613, Saudi Arabia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Turki","family":"Bafaraj","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Vector-Born and Zoonotic Diseases Department, Public Health Administration, Ministry of Health, Makkah 24321, Saudi Arabia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Hassen","family":"Alzahrani","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Clinical Laboratory, King Khalid University Hospital, Riyadh 12372, Saudi Arabia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Sameer","family":"Almahmoodi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Vector-Born and Zoonotic Diseases Department, Public Health Administration, Ministry of Health, Makkah 24321, Saudi Arabia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Hussam","family":"Alzahrani","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Vision Colleges, Faculty of Medicine, Alfarabi College, Riyadh 13226, Saudi Arabia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Kingsley","family":"Bieh","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"The Global Centre for Mass Gatherings Medicine, Ministry of Health, Riyadh 12341, Saudi Arabia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Badriah","family":"Alotaibi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"The Global Centre for Mass Gatherings Medicine, Ministry of Health, Riyadh 12341, Saudi Arabia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5075-7392","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Anas","family":"Khan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"The Global Centre for Mass Gatherings Medicine, Ministry of Health, Riyadh 12341, Saudi Arabia"},{"name":"Department of Emergency Medicine, College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh 12372, Saudi Arabia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Mohammed","family":"Alzahrani","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"General Directorate of Vector-Borne & Zoonotic Diseases, Ministry of Health, Riyadh 12613, Saudi Arabia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1736-181X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Esam I.","family":"Azhar","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Special Infectious Agents Unit, King Fahd Medical Research Center, King Abdulaziz University, P.O. Box 128442, Jeddah 21362, Saudi Arabia"},{"name":"Medical Laboratory Technology Department, Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, King Abdulaziz University, P.O. Box 128442, Jeddah 21362, Saudi Arabia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,6,10]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","unstructured":"Knipe, D.M., and Howley, P.M. (2007). Flaviviridae: The viruses and their replication. Fields Virology, Lippincott Williams and Wilkins. [5th ed.]."},{"key":"ref_2","unstructured":"Knipe, D.M., and Howley, P.M. (2007). Flaviviruses. Fields Virology, Lippincott Williams and Wilkins. [5th ed.]."},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"539","DOI":"10.1007\/s13365-014-0285-z","article-title":"Flaviviruses, an expanding threat in public health: Focus on dengue, West Nile, and Japanese encephalitis virus","volume":"20","author":"Daep","year":"2014","journal-title":"J. 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