scholarly journals Sequential Infection of Aedes aegypti Mosquitoes with Chikungunya Virus and Zika Virus Enhances Early Zika Virus Transmission

Insects ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 177 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tereza Magalhaes ◽  
Alexis Robison ◽  
Michael Young ◽  
William Black ◽  
Brian Foy ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Aedes Aegypti ◽  
Blood Meal ◽  
Zika Virus ◽  
Chikungunya Virus ◽  
Vector Competence ◽  
Virus Transmission ◽  
Mosquito Vector ◽  
Molecular Aspects ◽  
Virus Interactions ◽  
Sequential Infection

In urban settings, chikungunya, Zika, and dengue viruses are transmitted by Aedes aegypti mosquitoes. Since these viruses co-circulate in several regions, coinfection in humans and vectors may occur, and human coinfections have been frequently reported. Yet, little is known about the molecular aspects of virus interactions within hosts and how they contribute to arbovirus transmission dynamics. We have previously shown that Aedes aegypti exposed to chikungunya and Zika viruses in the same blood meal can become coinfected and transmit both viruses simultaneously. However, mosquitoes may also become coinfected by multiple, sequential feeds on single infected hosts. Therefore, we tested whether sequential infection with chikungunya and Zika viruses impacts mosquito vector competence. We exposed Ae. aegypti mosquitoes first to one virus and 7 days later to the other virus and compared infection, dissemination, and transmission rates between sequentially and single infected groups. We found that coinfection rates were high after sequential exposure and that mosquitoes were able to co-transmit both viruses. Surprisingly, chikungunya virus coinfection enhanced Zika virus transmission 7 days after the second blood meal. Our data demonstrate heterologous arbovirus synergism within mosquitoes, by unknown mechanisms, leading to enhancement of transmission under certain conditions.

scholarly journals Three-way interactions between mosquito population, viral strain and temperature underlying chikungunya virus transmission potential

2014 ◽  
Vol 281 (1792) ◽  
pp. 20141078 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karima Zouache ◽  
Albin Fontaine ◽  
Anubis Vega-Rua ◽  
Laurence Mousson ◽  
Jean-Michel Thiberge ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Chikungunya Virus ◽  
Environmental Variability ◽  
Vector Competence ◽  
Virus Transmission ◽  
Mosquito Population ◽  
Mosquito Vector ◽  
Human Pathogens ◽  
Public Health Importance ◽  
Transmission Potential ◽  
Vector Borne Diseases

Interactions between pathogens and their insect vectors in nature are under the control of both genetic and non-genetic factors, yet most studies on mosquito vector competence for human pathogens are conducted in laboratory systems that do not consider genetic and/or environmental variability. Evaluating the risk of emergence of arthropod-borne viruses (arboviruses) of public health importance such as chikungunya virus (CHIKV) requires a more realistic appraisal of genetic and environmental contributions to vector competence. In particular, sources of variation do not necessarily act independently and may combine in the form of interactions. Here, we measured CHIKV transmission potential by the mosquito Aedes albopictus in all combinations of six worldwide vector populations, two virus strains and two ambient temperatures (20°C and 28°C). Overall, CHIKV transmission potential by Ae. albopictus strongly depended on the three-way combination of mosquito population, virus strain and temperature. Such genotype-by-genotype-by-environment (G × G × E) interactions question the relevance of vector competence studies conducted with a simpler set of conditions. Our results highlight the need to account for the complex interplay between vectors, pathogens and environmental factors to accurately assess the potential of vector-borne diseases to emerge.

scholarly journals Impact of Mosquito Age and Insecticide Exposure on Susceptibility of Aedes albopictus (Diptera: Culicidae) to Infection with Zika Virus

Pathogens ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 67 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heidi Knecht ◽  
Stephanie Richards ◽  
Jo Balanay ◽  
Avian White
Keyword(s):  
Zika Virus ◽  
Vector Competence ◽  
Virus Transmission ◽  
Sublethal Dose ◽  
Oral Exposure ◽  
Chronological Age ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Source Reduction ◽  
Time Of Infection ◽  
Virus Interactions

Zika virus (ZIKV) is primarily transmitted to humans by Aedes aegypti and Ae. albopictus. Vector–virus interactions influencing vector competence vary and depend on biological and environmental factors. A mosquito’s chronological age may impact its immune response against virus infection. Insecticides, source reduction, and/or public education are currently the best defense against mosquitoes that transmit ZIKV. This study assessed the effects of a mosquito’s chronological age at time of infection on its response to ZIKV infection. We exposed young (6–7 d post-emergence) and old (11–12 d post-emergence) Ae. albopictus to a sublethal dose of bifenthrin prior to oral exposure to blood meals containing ZIKV (7-day incubation period). Old mosquitoes experienced a significantly (p < 0.01) higher rate of mortality than young mosquitoes. Significantly higher ZIKV body titers (p < 0.01) were observed in the old control group compared to the young control group. Significantly higher (p < 0.01) ZIKV dissemination rates and leg titers (p < 0.01) were observed in old bifenthrin-exposed mosquitoes compared to old control mosquitoes or young bifenthrin-exposed or control mosquitoes. Hence, bifenthrin exposure may increase the potential for virus transmission; however, the degree of these impacts varies with mosquito age. Impacts of insecticides should be considered in risk assessments of potential vector populations.

scholarly journals Global Transcriptome Analysis of Aedes aegypti Mosquitoes in Response to Zika Virus Infection

mSphere ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kayvan Etebari ◽  
Shivanand Hegde ◽  
Miguel A. Saldaña ◽  
Steven G. Widen ◽  
Thomas G. Wood ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Virus Infection ◽  
Aedes Aegypti ◽  
Dengue Virus ◽  
Zika Virus ◽  
Virus Transmission ◽  
Noncoding Rnas ◽  
Transcriptional Response ◽  
Mosquito Vector ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Zika Virus Infection

ABSTRACT Vector-borne viruses pose great risks to human health. Zika virus has recently emerged as a global threat, rapidly expanding its distribution. Understanding the interactions of the virus with mosquito vectors at the molecular level is vital for devising new approaches in inhibiting virus transmission. In this study, we embarked on analyzing the transcriptional response of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes to Zika virus infection. Results showed large changes in both coding and long noncoding RNAs. Analysis of these genes showed similarities with other flaviviruses, including dengue virus, which is transmitted by the same mosquito vector. The outcomes provide a global picture of changes in the mosquito vector in response to Zika virus infection. Zika virus (ZIKV) of the Flaviviridae family is a recently emerged mosquito-borne virus that has been implicated in the surge of the number of microcephaly instances in South America. The recent rapid spread of the virus led to its declaration as a global health emergency by the World Health Organization. The virus is transmitted mainly by the mosquito Aedes aegypti, which is also the vector of dengue virus; however, little is known about the interactions of the virus with the mosquito vector. In this study, we investigated the transcriptome profiles of whole A. aegypti mosquitoes in response to ZIKV infection at 2, 7, and 14 days postinfection using transcriptome sequencing. Results showed changes in the abundance of a large number of transcripts at each time point following infection, with 18 transcripts commonly changed among the three time points. Gene ontology analysis revealed that most of the altered genes are involved in metabolic processes, cellular processes, and proteolysis. In addition, 486 long intergenic noncoding RNAs that were altered upon ZIKV infection were identified. Further, we found changes of a number of potential mRNA target genes correlating with those of altered host microRNAs. The outcomes provide a basic understanding of A. aegypti responses to ZIKV and help to determine host factors involved in replication or mosquito host antiviral response against the virus. IMPORTANCE Vector-borne viruses pose great risks to human health. Zika virus has recently emerged as a global threat, rapidly expanding its distribution. Understanding the interactions of the virus with mosquito vectors at the molecular level is vital for devising new approaches in inhibiting virus transmission. In this study, we embarked on analyzing the transcriptional response of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes to Zika virus infection. Results showed large changes in both coding and long noncoding RNAs. Analysis of these genes showed similarities with other flaviviruses, including dengue virus, which is transmitted by the same mosquito vector. The outcomes provide a global picture of changes in the mosquito vector in response to Zika virus infection.

scholarly journals Recent outbreaks of chikungunya virus (CHIKV) in Africa and Asia are driven by a variant carrying mutations associated with increased fitness for Aedes aegypti

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Irina Maljkovic Berry ◽  
Fredrick Eyase ◽  
Simon Pollett ◽  
Samson Limbaso Konongoi ◽  
Katherine Figueroa ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Aedes Aegypti ◽  
Chikungunya Virus ◽  
Control Strategies ◽  
Vector Competence ◽  
Virus Transmission ◽  
New Delhi ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Global Spread ◽  
Large Outbreak ◽  
The Impact

AbstractBackgroundIn 2016, a chikungunya virus (CHIKV) outbreak was reported in Mandera, Kenya. This was the first major CHIKV outbreak in the country since the global re-emergence of this virus, which arose as an initial outbreak in Kenya in 2004. Therefore, we collected samples and sequenced viral genomes from the 2016 Mandera outbreak.Methodology/Principal FindingsAll Kenyan genomes contained two mutations, E1:K211E and E2:V264A, recently reported to have an association with increased infectivity, dissemination and transmission in the Aedes aegypti (Ae. aegypti) vector. Phylogeographic inference of temporal and spatial virus relationships using Bayesian approaches showed that this Ae. aegypti adapted strain emerged within the East, Central, and South African (ECSA) lineage of CHIKV between 2005 and 2008, most probably in India. It was also in India where the first large outbreak caused by this strain appeared, in New Delhi, 2010. More importantly, our results also showed that this strain is no longer contained to India, and that it has more recently caused several major outbreaks of CHIKV, including the 2016 outbreaks in India, Pakistan and Kenya, and the 2017 outbreak in Bangladesh. In addition to its capability to cause large outbreaks in different regions of the world, this CHIKV strain has the capacity to replace less adapted wild type strains in Ae. aegypti-rich regions. Indeed, all the latest full CHIKV genomes of the ECSA Indian Ocean Lineage (IOL), from the regions of high Ae. aegypti prevalence, carry these two mutations, including samples collected in Japan, Australia, and China.Conclusions/SignificanceOur results point to the importance of continued genomic-based surveillance of this strain’s global spread, and they prompt urgent vector competence studies in Asian and African countries, in order to assess the level of vector receptiveness, virus transmission, and the impact this might have on this strain’s ability to cause major outbreaks.Author summaryChikungunya virus (CHIKV) causes a debilitating infection with high fever, intense muscle and bone pain, rash, nausea, vomiting and headaches, and persistent and/or recurrent joint pains for months or years after contracting the virus. CHIKV is spread by two mosquito vectors, Aedes albopictus and Aedes aegypti, with increased presence around the globe. In this study, we report global spread of a CHIKV strain that carries two mutations that have been suggested to increase this virus’ ability to infect the Aedes aegypti mosquito, as well as to increase CHIKV’s ability to be transmitted by this vector. We show that this strain appeared sometime between 2005 and 2008, most probably in India, and has now spread to Africa, Asia, and Australia. We show that this strain is capable of driving large outbreaks of CHIKV in the human population, causing recent major outbreaks in Kenya, Pakistan, India and Bangladesh. Thus, our results stress the importance of monitoring this strain’s global spread, as well as the need of improved vector control strategies in the areas of Aedes aegypti prevalence.

scholarly journals Vector competence of Aedes aegypti and Culex quinquefasciatus from the metropolitan area of Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico for Zika virus

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Darwin Elizondo-Quiroga ◽  
Miriam Ramírez-Medina ◽  
Abel Gutiérrez-Ortega ◽  
Armando Elizondo-Quiroga ◽  
José Esteban Muñoz-Medina ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Aedes Aegypti ◽  
Culex Quinquefasciatus ◽  
Zika Virus ◽  
Vector Competence ◽  
Virus Transmission ◽  
Blood Feeding ◽  
Surveillance Program ◽  
Virus Spread ◽  
Zikv Infection ◽  
Almost All

AbstractZika virus (ZIKV) is a mosquito-borne pathogen discovered in the late 40’s in Uganda during a surveillance program for yellow fever. By 2014 the virus reached Eastern Island in the Americas, and two years later, the virus spread to almost all countries and territories of the Americas. The mosquito Aedes aegypti has been identified as the main vector of the disease, and several researchers have also studied the vector competence of Culex quinquefasciatus in virus transmission. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the vector competence of Ae. aegypti and Cx. quinquefasciatus in order to understand their roles in the transmission of ZIKV in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. In blood feeding laboratry experiments, we found that Ae. aegypti mosquitoes showed to be a competent vector able to transmit ZIKV in this area. On the other hand, we found that F0 Cx. quinquefasciatus mosquitoes are refractory to ZIKV infection, dissemination and transmission.

scholarly journals Sugar feeding enhances gut immunity and protects against arboviral infection in the mosquito vector Aedes aegypti

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Floriane Almire ◽  
Sandra Terry ◽  
Melanie McFarlane ◽  
Agnieszka M. Sziemel ◽  
Selim Terhzaz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Aedes Aegypti ◽  
Blood Meal ◽  
Vector Competence ◽  
Antiviral Immunity ◽  
Model Organisms ◽  
Infection Prevalence ◽  
Mosquito Vector ◽  
Sugar Feeding ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Mosquito Females

AbstractAs mosquito females require a blood meal to reproduce, they can act as vectors of numerous pathogens, such as arboviruses (e.g. Zika, dengue and chikungunya viruses), which constitute a substantial worldwide public health burden. In addition to blood meals, mosquito females can also take sugar meals to get carbohydrates for their energy reserves. It is now recognised that diet is a key regulator of health and disease outcome through interactions with the immune system. However, it has been mostly studied in humans and model organisms. So far, the impact of sugar feeding on mosquito immunity and in turn, how this could affect vector competence for arboviruses has not been analysed. Here, we show that sugar feeding increases and maintains antiviral immunity in the digestive tract of the main arbovirus vector Aedes aegypti. Our data demonstrate that the gut microbiota does not mediate the sugar-induced immunity but partly inhibits it. Importantly, sugar intake prior to an arbovirus-infected blood meal further protects females against infection with arboviruses from different families, highlighting a broad antiviral action of sugar. Sugar feeding blocks arbovirus initial infection and dissemination from the gut, lowers infection prevalence and intensity, thereby decreasing transmission potential of female mosquitoes. Overall, our findings uncover a crucial role of sugar feeding in mosquito antiviral immunity and vector competence for arboviruses. Since Ae. aegypti almost exclusively feed on blood in some natural settings, our findings suggest that this could increase the spread of mosquito-borne arboviral diseases.

scholarly journals Starvation at the larval stage increases the vector competence of Aedes aegypti females for Zika virus

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (11) ◽  
pp. e0010003
Author(s):  
Christie S. Herd ◽  
DeAna G. Grant ◽  
Jingyi Lin ◽  
Alexander W. E. Franz
Keyword(s):  
Aedes Aegypti ◽  
Salivary Glands ◽  
Blood Meal ◽  
Zika Virus ◽  
Vector Competence ◽  
Transmission Cycle ◽  
Physical Evidence ◽  
Transmission Electron ◽  
Primary Vector ◽  
Blood Meal Digestion

Aedes aegypti is the primary vector of Zika virus (ZIKV), a flavivirus which typically presents itself as febrile-like symptoms in humans but can also cause neurological and pregnancy complications. The transmission cycle of mosquito-borne arboviruses such as ZIKV requires that various key tissues in the female mosquito including the salivary glands get productively infected with the virus before the mosquito can transmit the virus to another vertebrate host. Following ingestion of a viremic blood-meal from a vertebrate, ZIKV initially infects the midgut epithelium before exiting the midgut after blood-meal digestion to disseminate to secondary tissues including the salivary glands. Here we investigated whether smaller Ae. aegypti females resulting from food deprivation as larvae exhibited an altered vector competence for blood-meal acquired ZIKV relative to larger mosquitoes. Midguts from small ‘Starve’ and large ‘Control’ Ae. aegypti were dissected to visualize by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) the midgut basal lamina (BL) as physical evidence for the midgut escape barrier showing Starve mosquitoes with a significantly thinner midgut BL than Control mosquitoes at two timepoints. ZIKV replication was inhibited in Starve mosquitoes following intrathoracic injection of virus, however, Starve mosquitoes exhibited a significantly higher midgut escape and population dissemination rate at 9 days post-infection (dpi) via blood-meal, with more virus present in saliva and head tissue than Control by 10 dpi and 14 dpi, respectively. These results indicate that Ae. aegypti developing under stressful conditions potentially exhibit higher midgut infection and dissemination rates for ZIKV as adults, Thus, variation in food intake as larvae is potentially a source for variable vector competence levels of the emerged adults for the virus.

scholarly journals Vector competence and transovarial transmission of two Aedes aegypti strains to Zika virus

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chun-xiao Li ◽  
Xiao-xia Guo ◽  
Yong-qiang Deng ◽  
Dan Xing ◽  
Ai-juan Sun ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Aedes Aegypti ◽  
Zika Virus ◽  
Vector Competence ◽  
Transovarial Transmission

scholarly journals Vector Competence of French Polynesian Aedes aegypti and Aedes polynesiensis for Zika Virus

2016 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. e0005024 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vaea Richard ◽  
Tuterarii Paoaafaite ◽  
Van-Mai Cao-Lormeau
Keyword(s):  
Aedes Aegypti ◽  
Zika Virus ◽  
Vector Competence ◽  
Aedes Polynesiensis

scholarly journals Zika mosquito vectors: the jury is still out

F1000Research ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. 2546 ◽  
Author(s):  
Walter S. Leal
Keyword(s):  
Aedes Aegypti ◽  
Yellow Fever ◽  
Culex Quinquefasciatus ◽  
Zika Virus ◽  
Field Data ◽  
Vector Competence ◽  
Sexual Transmission ◽  
Mosquito Vectors ◽  
Yellow Fever Mosquito ◽  
The Common

After a 40-year hiatus, the International Congress of Entomology (ICE 2016) convened in Orlando, Florida (September 25-30, 2016). One of the symposia at ICE 2016, the Zika Symposium, covered multiple aspects of the Zika epidemic, including epidemiology, sexual transmission, genetic tools for reducing transmission, and particularly vector competence. While there was a consensus among participants that the yellow fever mosquito, Aedes aegypti, is a vector of the Zika virus, there is growing evidence indicating that the range of mosquito vectors might be wider than anticipated. In particular, three independent groups from Canada, China, and Brazil presented and discussed laboratory and field data strongly suggesting that the southern house mosquito, Culex quinquefasciatus, also known as the common mosquito, is highly likely to be a vector in certain environments.

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