Aedes vittatus in Haiti: continued expansion across the Caribbean and implications for the Americas

Authors

St-Louis, D., Bousses, P., Talignani, L., Lasica, C., Emmanuel, E., Simard, F., Roiz, D.

Abstract

Aedes vittatus, an emerging invasive species and arboviral vector with high ecological plasticity and dispersal capacity, is expanding in the Caribbean, being detected in the Dominican Republic, Cuba, and Jamaica and recently in Yucatan, Mexico. This study aimed to provide evidence of the establishment of Ae. vittatus in Haiti. Larval surveys were done across 12 localities around Cap-Haitien, in the North-East department of Haiti, the specimens were identified morphologically and confirmed by COI DNA barcoding. We report, for the first time, the detection of the invasive vector Aedes (Fredwardsius) vittatus in Haiti, confirmed morphologically and molecularly, and being established in half of the municipalities sampled. Phylogenetic analyses group Haitian specimens with Caribbean and American populations, closely related to Mexico, indicating regional expansion. Main conclusion: Given its role as a vector of chikungunya, dengue, Zika and yellow fever, strengthened entomological surveillance and early detection in North America and the Caribbean are urgently needed.

Preprint server: bioRxiv
The authors list and abstract were imported from bioRxiv on 17 Jun 2026.

Stats

1-terrible, 9-excellent. How would you rate this preprint? Sign in in to submit your rating.

Post a comment

You need to be signed in to post comments. You can sign in here.

Comments

There are no comments yet.