Discovery and high prevalence of Phasi Charoen-like virus in field-captured Aedes aegypti in South China

Arboviruses have caused significant global health concerns during the past decade. In this regard, continuous viral surveillance is essential to timely identify emerging arboviruses and other novel viruses. Here, a novel isolate of Phasi Charoen-like virus (PCLV Zhanjiang01) was identified from field-captured Aedes aegypti mosquitoes in Zhanjiang by next generation sequencing. Phylogenetic analysis suggested that PCLV Zhanjiang01 belonged to the genus Phasivirus in the family Phenuiviridae. The presence of PCLV in three batches of Aedes aegypti confirmed its high prevalence in nature. Further detection of PCLV in progenies and adult males suggested vertical transmission in mosquitoes. In parallel, PCLV was detected from multiple organs indicating its broad tissue distribution in the infected mosquitoes. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of PCLV in China. Our results expanded the global biogeographic distribution of PCLV. Further investigations of PCLV on the arboviral transmission and control strategies are warranted. •This is the first discovery of Phasi Charoen-like virus (PCLV) in wild Aedes aegypti in China.•PCLV was highly prevalent in wild Aedes aegypti but not observed in Aedes albopictus or Culex quinquefasciatus.•Detection of PCLV in male mosquitoes and progenies suggested a vertical transmission in infected mosquitoes in nature.•PCLV was broadly disseminated in multi organs in infected Aedes aegypti.