Culex quinquefasciatus from areas with the highest incidence of microcephaly associated with Zika virus infections in the Northeast Region of Brazil are refractory to the virus.

Rosilainy Surubi Fernandes,Paulino Siqueira Ribeiro,Lidiane Ms Raphael,Stéphanie Silva Campos,Ricardo Lourenço-De-Oliveira,Myrna C Bonaldo

doi:10.1590/0074-02760170145

Rosilainy Surubi Fernandes, Paulino Siqueira Ribeiro + Show 4 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1590/0074-02760170145

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Abstract

Zika virus (ZIKV) is widely distributed in Brazil and the Northeast Region (NE) is the most affected zone, showing the highest incidence of microcephaly associated with ZIKV congenital infections worldwide. We report attempts to infect three populations of Culex quinquefasciatus from severely affected sites in the NE and Southeast Region (SE) of Brazil with three strains of ZIKV isolated from these localities. An Aedes aegypti population from the SE was used as a positive control. All tested Cx. quinquefasciatus populations were refractory to the ZIKV isolates. For these reasons, we believe Cx. quinquefasciatus should not be considered a potential vector of ZIKV in Brazil.

Highlights

After rapid expansion in the Pacific Region, the Zika virus (ZIKV) was first recognised in northeastern Brazil in 2015, followed by a countrywide epidemic that eventually spread to the entire continent (Possas et al 2017, Zanluca et al 2015)
The first cases of microcephaly associated with ZIKV infection were reported in this Brazilian region, which showed the highest incidence of this condition and other congenital neurological malformations worldwide
As vector competence is known to be geographically variable and depends on the specific combination of mosquito and virus genotypes (Lambrechts 2011, Tabachnick 2013), we challenged Cx. quinquefasciatus from two sites where a high incidence of microcephaly associated with ZIKV infections had been reported in Northeast Region (NE) Brazil with three Brazilian ZIKV isolates from the NE and Southeast Region (SE)

Summary

Introduction

After rapid expansion in the Pacific Region, the Zika virus (ZIKV) was first recognised in northeastern Brazil in 2015, followed by a countrywide epidemic that eventually spread to the entire continent (Possas et al 2017, Zanluca et al 2015). Cx. quinquefasciatus from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, were shown to be unable to transmit local ZIKV isolates (Fernandes et al 2016), a result observed in the populations in the United State of America and Australia exposed to several ZIKV strains (Hall-Mendelin et al 2016, Hart et al 2017, Weger-Lucarelli et al 2016).

Results

Conclusion