Abstract
Zika virus (ZIKV) is a mosquito-borne flavivirus that predominantly circulates between humans and Aedes mosquitoes. Clinical studies have shown that Zika viruria in patients persists for an extended period, and results in infectious virions being excreted. Here, we demonstrate that Aedes mosquitoes are permissive to ZIKV infection when breeding in urine or sewage containing low concentrations of ZIKV. Mosquito larvae and pupae, including from field Aedes aegypti can acquire ZIKV from contaminated aquatic systems, resulting in ZIKV infection of adult females. Adult mosquitoes can transmit infectious virions to susceptible type I/II interferon receptor-deficient (ifnagr-/-) C57BL/6 (AG6) mice. Furthermore, ZIKV viruria from infected AG6 mice can causes mosquito infection during the aquatic life stages. Our studies suggest that infectious urine could be a natural ZIKV source, which is potentially transmissible to mosquitoes when breeding in an aquatic environment.
Highlights
Zika virus (ZIKV) is a mosquito-borne flavivirus that predominantly circulates between humans and Aedes mosquitoes
We demonstrate that both A. aegypti and A. albopictus are permissive to ZIKV infection when breeding in urine or sewage containing low concentrations of ZIKV
Female field A. aegypti breeding in infectious sewage can transmit infectious Zika virions to naive AG6 mice, suggesting that ZIKV in contaminated aquatic environments is transmissible by mosquitoes during breeding
Summary
Zika virus (ZIKV) is a mosquito-borne flavivirus that predominantly circulates between humans and Aedes mosquitoes. Change and Earth System Science, Beijing Normal University, 100875 Beijing, People’s Republic of China These authors contributed : Senyan Du, Zika virus (ZIKV) is a mosquito-borne virus belonging to the genus Flavivirus and is transmitted to humans by mosquitoes of the genus Aedes. Both Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus are the primary vectors for ZIKV transmission in nature[1,2]. Female field A. aegypti breeding in infectious sewage can transmit infectious Zika virions to naive AG6 mice, suggesting that ZIKV in contaminated aquatic environments is transmissible by mosquitoes during breeding
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